Turning Weight Loss Into Wisdom: The Story Behind Our New Book

James 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.

James 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.

James Hill:
Ready for the “And” factor?

Holly Wyatt:
Let's dive in.

James Hill:
Here we go.

Holly Wyatt:
Today's episode is a big one for us. We're going to do something we've never done before. We're going to pull back the curtain and we're inviting you into our creative process. The wins, the surprises, the messy middle, and the magic behind our brand new book, Losing the Weight Loss Meds.

James Hill:
Wow, exciting. So yeah, you're getting the conversations we normally have off the mic, the ones late at night and in between drafts. What really it took to build this book. The moments that almost broke us.

Holly Wyatt:
There was a couple.

James Hill:
There were. And the unexpected insights that ended up shaping the entire direction of the project.

Holly Wyatt:
[1:21] Think of this as the director's commentary. The behind-the-scenes version you usually never get to hear.

James Hill:
Oh, the dirt. The dirty, messy stuff. Yeah, and stick with us because we've got a special invitation for you at the end, something we've never offered before.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, a little surprise. All right, Jim, let's start. I've been kind of excited about this episode because this, I'd look this up to get some dates to remember. We've been on this journey for two years.

James Hill:
Wow.

Holly Wyatt:
We wrote our proposal. We were writing our proposal for our agent to go out there and kind of pitch the book, the book proposal, two years ago in December. So, exactly two years. So, it is this process and you don't just snap your fingers and a book appears. But, wow, I now have the book sitting in front of me and I feel like it's almost like my baby. I feel like this has been a process and it's finally, finally here. So, I'm really excited to kind of get to not just talk about what's in the book, but really talk about how we, why we did the book and the creative process and the behind the scenes part. Because it doesn't just snap your fingers and happen.

James Hill:
Okay, Holly. Well, what was that moment where we looked at each other and said, okay, this has to be a book?

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. Why did we write this book?

James Hill:
Yeah. Why did we?

Holly Wyatt:
Oh, my gosh. And I, for me, and you can kind of say when the moment was for you, but when I finally realized we knew these drugs were coming, but when I finally started to see that they were working out in the real world, people wanted them. There was a lot of interest. People were taking them. They were losing the weight. And finally, I said, you know what? They're getting the amount of weight loss that I think is going to be in the range that they're going to want to maintain it. Like, finally, we're not going to have to hide behind the weight loss to get to talk about weight loss maintenance. Finally, people were like, “Okay, what do I do now that I've lost the weight?” And that was the first time in my whole career I was hearing that.

James Hill:
It's kind of interesting because the book talks about what to do when you stop the meds, but there wouldn't have been interest in this book without the meds themselves. The fact that we have these effective medications, which are wonderful, is really the reason that I think people are now interested in the strategy that we provide in the book.

Holly Wyatt:
I always said that weight loss was sexy. People liked it for all the reasons and they wanted it. They talk about it and there's TV shows about it. And I've always said weight loss maintenance was the opposite of sexy. It was like watching paint dry. You don't have a show that says, “Oh my gosh, you look exactly like you did a month ago or six months ago.” And it just wasn't exciting. But finally that was starting to kind of shift and people were like, “Okay, what do I do finally to lose the weight?” And I thought, “Wow, what an opportunity.” And you're right. Without the weight loss medications, we would not have this opportunity. So it's very ironic.

James Hill:
You know, it was back in the 1980s with the National Weight Control Registry where it first dawned on me that weight loss was a very different process than weight loss maintenance because we saw all these successful people. These are people that lost weight and maintained it. And what they did to lose the weight really oftentimes had no relationship in what they did to keep it off. And it was an aha for me to say, “Wait a minute, these are different processes.” Losing weight takes a certain set of skills and information, but keeping it off is very different. And I think, Holly, our field and the public have been slow to understand the difference. Because oftentimes in our programs, we've tried to help people both lose weight and keep it off, but few people ever got to the point where they wanted to keep it off. They were still trying to lose more weight. And the medications now do the heavy lifting on the weight loss so we can focus our attention on weight loss maintenance. And your skills at weight loss maintenance are different than your skills at losing weight.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. My whole career has been about weight loss maintenance. I mean, also about weight loss, but that's really been the area I've been asked the most questions. And my whole career is really centered around weight loss maintenance, but I always had to sneak it in. State of Slim, our first book, was a weight loss book. But in reality, Jim, it was a weight loss maintenance book. We just didn't call it that because nobody would buy it. Nobody would want it. We kind of put in a Colorado diet, which was the weight loss piece. And then we're putting in a lot of the weight loss maintenance strategies that we knew work from the National Weight Control Registry, kind of putting it in there, hiding it to make people successful with losing the weight, but really keeping it off.

James Hill:
Yeah, I think having these effective medications for the first time has highlighted the importance of weight loss maintenance. And it doesn't matter if you want to stay on the drugs long term, you want to get off the drugs, you want to go back and forth between drugs and lifestyle. There are lots of options, but it's still about maintaining your weight, living your life and maintain your weight. Weight loss is sort of time out. You can take time out and go lose weight. Weight loss maintenance is you have to keep your weight off and live your life.

Holly Wyatt:
I got a question, Jim. How did you know or when did you know that we were meant to write this book now? Not someday, but this was the right time.

James Hill:
Well, I think it happened as we were writing it. When we started getting the information that people were using the drugs to lose weight, but very few people were staying on them long term.

James Hill:
At that point, we had already started the book, so we were writing it. But there was the point where we saw this information that maybe up to half the people don't stay on these a year. And it like, oh my gosh, what we have is exactly what people need because they're going to regain the weight without a plan. And our whole careers have led us to develop this plan. This plan takes advantage of everything I've done for 40 years, Holly.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. And even the scientists still sometimes are not focusing on weight loss maintenance. And so I think, oh, this message really does need to get out there. And I agree with you. It was about a year in that I was like, oh my gosh, this is what we need. This is what needs to happen. This book needs to happen. The timing is really, really good. And I've always said, Jim, you're always a little bit ahead of the curve. And I don't know how you're always a little bit, but I love that about you. And I do think this was the perfect timing. And what people have been saying to me when I've been showing them the book or talking about the book in different different places is they're like, even if they don't need the book, they know somebody who needs the book. They're like, I want this book for my mom. I want this book for my sister. I want this book for my best friend because they see people losing the weight and they know what's coming.

James Hill:
Yeah. One of my hopes is that this book, really facilitates more of a focus on weight loss maintenance. If you're losing weight, you can go out on the internet and there are thousands of things out there to help you. Some are useful, some are not useful. There's not much out to help you in weight loss maintenance. So one of the things I think our book can do, it can give you a strategy, but it can also focus on the fact that we need more resources, more tools to help people in weight loss maintenance.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. And when I saw that, you know, people are going to get information from somewhere. So people are losing weight. They are losing an amount of weight that they're interested in weight loss maintenance. And so for me, it was like, okay, we do know something about this. There is science behind it. We do have experience with this and you're going to get information from somewhere. We need to get it out there. It's time. It's finally time to get that information out there.

James Hill:
There's no question about it. I mean, you know, I hesitate to say we're the top people out there, but we certainly are two people that have spent decades doing lots and lots of research, understanding people about weight loss maintenance. So we probably know as much about weight loss maintenance as anybody right now.

Holly Wyatt:
I think we can contribute. That's probably what I meant more.

James Hill:
We can definitely contribute. There are other people that contribute. It's not just us, but we have contributed a lot. I think we understand weight loss maintenance as well as anyone.

Holly Wyatt:
So let's switch for a second and talk about the problem we're facing. I mean, a lot of people are saying, okay, these drugs are going to change the obesity landscape. And they are. They're game changers. That's what we call them, game changers. And people are achieving a lot of weight loss. There's a lot more drugs coming. So even if maybe people haven't been successful on these drugs, there may be more drugs very soon that may be successful. So a lot of people are going to lose a lot of weight. Problem solved, Jim. Don't you think?

James Hill:
No, I wish it were the case. Holly, I think in the very near future, we're going to have medications that work for just about anybody. If you want to lose weight and you want to try medication, there are going to be medications that allow you to achieve or to nearly achieve your weight loss goals. Now the question becomes, what do you do long term? How are you going to keep that weight off? Are you going to be on the drugs long term? Are you going to try lifestyle? Are you going to do a combination? And (and we'll talk about this a little bit later) what does success long-term really look like?

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. I love how you were putting, I don't know where we were and you were talking about this. It's like we have half the problem solved and we're really at this, I think, critical point for our country. You know, what are we going to do? Are we simply going to be a country that loses a lot of weight and then regains it all and then loses it again? Or are we going to deal with the second half of this problem, which is exactly what this book, I think, is trying to do?

James Hill:
Yeah, and I really believe that the future is figuring out the right integration of medications and lifestyle. I mean, medications are here to stay. We've had lots and lots of medications over the years. The difference is the ones we have now are just way more effective than the others. But the future in my mind is going to be how we integrate medications and lifestyle and there are a lot of ways to do that You can individualize that you can choose a way forward that fits you and your life and your life goals.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. And there's things you can do and that's really what we want to get out there. But I want to do crystal ball for you. You have to look into the future, okay. What do you see if this country ignores weight loss maintenance?

James Hill:
Well, again, what I'm afraid could happen in that case is we go through cycles that individuals have gone through and our field has gone through where there's enormous success with weight loss and people regain the weight. I mean, Holly, you've seen people who come into your programs and they've been wildly successful at weight loss. They've lost weight four or five, six, seven times in the future, but they've gained it back. And so that's my fear is that we're still too focused on weight loss and we're going to gain it back and we're going to be right back where we started from.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. I think we're going to have a bigger success, bigger weight loss, and potentially, if we don't deal with weight loss maintenance, bigger weight regain. That's what I fear.

James Hill:
Yes, I agree.

Holly Wyatt:
The cycle is just going to be bigger than it was, but that same cycle is going to be there. So I want to shift a little bit to this kind of two-year writing journey. I mean, when I look back on it, I'm like, wow. I always talk about the messy middle, Jim. I mean, there were points when I think we deleted whole chapters. I know I would write something and you would edit it, and then I would go back and edit my stuff back in and vice versa. So a lot of people think, “Oh, two people writing, it's easier.” I don't think so.

James Hill:
No. You know, the whole chapter, one of the things that we've always argued for is the importance of not just nutrition, but physical activity and now the mind. But on the physical activity thing, we have a couple of chapters about what physical activity does for your metabolism. Holly, I bet you, I rewrote those chapters 20 times.

Holly Wyatt:
Jim, I know, because I would edit them and then you'd like start over again. And I'm like, what are we doing?

James Hill:
Well, every time I wrote it, I kind of understood it better myself. And the idea is, you know, looking at how physical activity affects your metabolism is very complex. And I wanted to communicate that in an accurate way, but a way that wasn't so complex that people didn't understand it. So hopefully we've maybe tried to achieve that.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, I think that was the issue. It was like it needed to be scientifically accurate. We wanted our colleagues to read it and say, yes, that is what the science shows. But then also be able to say it in a way and translate it in a way that the public and our patients can read it and say, “Oh, my gosh, I understand it, too.” And that can be tricky.

James Hill:
It is. And for example, we talk about fixing your metabolism. And some of the scientists might say, “Oh, no, no, it's not your metabolism is broke.” Well, it is in a way. It's your metabolism isn't working as well as it could. And so the message to the public is, “Hey, you can fix that.” So I think we communicated something that was fairly accurate in a simple way.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, it's really that taking the pie, what I always say, and I would say this to you all the time, it's still pie in the sky, Jim. It's still all theory. I don't understand it. We got to put it down, you know, pie in the plate. And switching, being able to write both the pie in the sky accurately and putting it the pie in the plate where it makes sense and you can understand it and it's still be accurate. That I think was the messy middle for us.

James Hill:
The other one that I think we rewrote a lot was the whole section on the mind. We have three pillars. Food is medicine, physical activity is medicine, and mind is medicine. And, you know, the whole mind is medicine thing is not something you find a lot in weight management programs. And my gosh, we had to write those chapters over and over and over. And each time, I think, Holly, we understood them better.

Holly Wyatt:
We understood it better. It was true. You were taking kind of the first lead on some of the physical activity chapters. I was taking the first lead on the mind chapters. And we would switch them back and forth. But I remember a couple of times you're like, nope, we got it. We're not there yet. And I think even we redefined a term, mind state. We decided we needed a new term, that there wasn't something out there that we could use. So we did define a new term for the book, mind state. So that was something that was definitely part of that messy middle two year figuring it out as you're writing, trying to get it where people can understand it and it's useful.

James Hill:
You know, Holly, I think the nutrition part was probably the easier one, the physical activity in the mind. You know, I think as we wrote them, we better understood them. And then we had to do many versions, I think, to communicate that in an effective way to the public.

Holly Wyatt:
And I hope we did. I guess we're going to find out, Jim. I hope we did.

James Hill:
But you know what, Holly? I could take those chapters and re-edit them right now. I could write the physical activity chapter and improve on it. So at some point, you kind of have to stop because we could get better and better. And that's why I hope we hear feedback from people. Who knows? We may do a follow-up, but we're happy to expand on this as we understand it better. Hopefully, we can explain it better.

Holly Wyatt:
So I do. I say I want feedback and I really, really do because I think we can always make it better. But it's kind of like it's almost become my baby. I'm like, but be kind, be kind to my baby. Give us feedback, but be kind.

James Hill:
Yeah. The thing is, we want to help people out there. And, you know, we're going to get colleagues that criticize us because, you know, sometimes they'll say, well, what you said is not 100 percent accurate. Our goal is to help people, to help people avoid the regain if they stop the meds. And what I'm looking for is feedback from actual people who find this useful.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, I agree. So let's spend a minute talking about the framework of the book, because there is a framework to it. We started with a conceptual model and we moved into a framework for the book. And there is always a method to the madness. And I thought it might be good to just bring this up so people understand it. We started with principles that we had science behind, science back, science evidence that there was data to support. And for each of the three pillars of, you know, food is medicine, physical activity is medicine, and mind is medicine. And I love the idea that you're replacing the medication with those three things. That was kind of one of the principles. But we then found five principles for each that we wanted to make sure we put into place. Principles that we thought were critical for successful weight loss maintenance, critical to prevent that weight regain. And then from the principles, which were very pie in the sky, they were the things that work but didn't really tell you how to do it.

Holly Wyatt:
And that's where I think most books stop. They can give you the principles and they think, oh, if you understand this principle that, you know, the bigger your portion size, the more you eat or the more energy density in foods, the more calories, they should decrease energy density. Those are principles. How do you do that? That's, to me, the part that is usually missing in a book. So we took the principles and we made what we called plays, like a game plan. These are the plays you're going to play and you're going to use in your game for all the principles. And sometimes one of the plays may take into account three of the principles. They're not one for one.

Holly Wyatt:
And so that's the basic framework, taking the evidence-based science principles, translating them into plays, and then taking the plays that you need and putting them into a game plan for you.

James Hill:
Yeah, Holly, you know, we live in Alabama, where a lot of people like football here in Alabama. You know, we have a pretty good team at our university, but we like the idea of a playbook. And it's very similar to, say, the Alabama football team, where it's third and 10. There are plays that you would pull out there that you wouldn't pull out if it's third and one to go. And so the whole idea is you have principles. Here's offense. You need a first down. Here's the situation. Now you choose plays that fit your situation. And that's what we tried to do. We tried to give people principles and science-based ways to change, but then we gave them the, as you call it, the pie on the plate. Here are plays that you can use. Choose this play for this situation.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. And you're right. We did foundational plays that we think are the foundation. And then we have the extra plays and even some future plays. So you get a choice. And the other big thing I liked about the structure, the framework of this book is you get to choose the plays for you. So not only are there different plays at different times that might work best. We know now, and this is different than maybe if we'd been writing the book, 10, 15 years ago, we're not looking for the best plays. Everybody has to do this play. We know now it's very complex and certain people need certain plays. It's not just the best plays. It's figuring out what the best plays are for you.

James Hill:
Well, we learned from a lot of our work with the National Weight Control Registry, Holly, that not everybody does exactly the same thing. There are some principles people are doing, So they're getting a lot of physical activity, but the way they do it is very different. It's not one size fits all. And, you know, we're in this area of precision, this and that. And the idea is we want to give people ideas for strategies that they can personalize. You read our plays and some of these you're going to say, I could never do that. And other ones you could say, oh, I could do that. And that's the idea, giving people options that fit with the way they approach their life.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. And some people, you know, I say, if you already have that physical activity going, if that's not an issue, then you don't need those plays. That's gone, you know. And some people need to focus more on the food for different reasons. So we actually came up with three profiles.

James Hill:
I was going to say we came up with three profiles. Why don't you tell our listeners what those were?

Holly Wyatt:
Well, I love, I just realized we did principles, we did plays, we did profile, we did plan, kind of all fits together. There are three profiles and I think we're going to do a whole episode because people love this. And the reason we came up with these three profiles was to help people kind of see which area maybe they should start in. It can be so overwhelming sometimes. Like, “Well, there's all these plays in the book because we need a lot of different plays for a lot of different people. I'm overwhelmed.” And I didn't want them to be overwhelmed. So three profiles. There's the nonstop food seeker. There's the sedentary sitter and there's the setback cycler. And you can probably already see there's someone who needs a lot of work with nutrition in terms of the food. The sedentary sitter may need a little bit more activity work, physical activity work. And the setback cycler, that's really one of those people who falls off every time life gives you a curveball. I've seen them. We definitely have seen them. And you may be a little bit of all of them, but the idea is you could get an idea. We can ask you some questions. You can get an idea for which one maybe you should start with. Which one might be doing might be the most helpful for you and which plays would actually help you be successful?

James Hill:
Holly, I think most people can relate to the nonstop food seeker. That's pretty common. But people may not think as much about the other two. And the sedentary sitter, for example, these are people that are really good at food restricting. They can go on a diet. They're successful. It's no problem. They can restrict. They can follow rules. But they don't increase their activity, so they don't keep it off. And then the power of the mind. I think if there's one thing that was eureka for me in writing this book is I've spent my career looking at diet and physical activity. I think the mind may be the most important of all, because if you don't have the right mind state, you're not going to be able to achieve and maintain a lifestyle that keeps the weight off.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. And a lot of people I know are going to see a little bit of all three.

James Hill:
Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:
I think it gives you a place to start and it puts it into profiles that you're like, oh, I identify with that person, you know. We write out kind of a profile example in the book and you're like, yes, that's the pattern I've had. This really feels like something I can relate to.

James Hill:
Yeah. And again, you have to work on all three, but it's where to start. If you generally, you know, we see a lot of people, they're good at physical activity. They just haven't controlled their food intake to get the weight off. So it gives you a place to start. You need to hit all three, but you may be further along on one or the other. It simply gives you an idea of where to start.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. So maybe we need to back up just a minute. What? Let's tell the listeners, what are the three biggest challenges that we see as people come off the meds and then, you know, are in a situation where they could regain if they don't have a plan? What are the three biggest challenges this book was written to push back against?

James Hill:
Yeah, well, the one that most people can relate to is your appetite returns, okay? So the medications work by having you feel full on less food. In other words, You food restrict, but you're okay with that. You're not hungry. Without the meds, you food restrict, you get hungry. The medications lower what we call your appetite set point. When you stop the medications, guess what happens? Appetite comes back. And one of our goals is, okay, you are going to eat more after you stop the meds. We don't want your appetite to go back to where it was before you lost weight. That was too high. It's not going to stay low. We give you strategies to have your appetite set point somewhere in the middle.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, we say reset that appetite set point. Not as low as the meds. That's probably not going to be the case. I don't know if we want it to be as low as the medication.

James Hill:
No, no, you don't.

Holly Wyatt:
But not as high as it was before, because that's going to be a struggle if you're really wanting to eat as many calories as you were eating before. So what we do with the plays is specifically a lot of the food as nutrition plays, but all the plays is really working at kind of resetting this appetite in that middle zone with food and with activity and with your mind working together to allow that to be easier, to allow that to occur.

James Hill:
Yeah. And the second one is physical activity. People forget that. So you stop the meds, you're going to eat more, right? So how do you avoid gaining weight? Because you increase your physical activity. Physical activity does several positive things. One, it burns more calories. It simply allows you to eat more food without gaining weight. So you're eating more after you stop the meds. If you increase your physical activity, you're balancing that out. But the big thing or bigger thing that physical activity does is it really optimizes your metabolism so that your metabolism is working with you to maintain your weight rather than against you. So appetite comes back, increasing physical activity sort of compensates for that, helps you deal with that increase in food intake without gaining weight.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, I think we say restore your metabolism.

James Hill:
Restore your metabolism. You know, I talk about it's back to factory settings. Your metabolism became sluggish due to years of being sedentary and overweight. Your metabolism in that situation is not working the way it should. That's why you develop all these chronic diseases, diabetes, etc. Physical activity turns that around, restores it to its optimum state.

Holly Wyatt:
And I think the point you just made, I don't know if people picked up on it, is not just about the energy equation. It is. I mean, it is definitely with the weight regain, but it's a lot of other pathways too that have to do with metabolic processes.

James Hill:
You're sensitive to insulin. You have more mitochondria in your muscles. You burn more fat. Over and over in every aspect of your metabolism, physical activity restores it to its optimum level.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. All right. What's the third challenge that we see happen?

James Hill:
I'm going to let you deal with the third one because this is your baby.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. So people, if they haven't worked on changing their mind state, a lot of times when they come off the drug, curveballs happen, life happens, and they don't have an optimal mind state to be able to deal with them. And a lot of people have dealt with curveballs and emotions by eating food, emotional eating, or turning to food, or kind of throwing up their hands and getting completely off track with everything. So their physical activity goes out the window. We call these setback cyclers. When a curveball comes, when a setback comes, this is what happens. Everything kind of goes out the window. They haven't learned new strategies for emotional resiliency. Their mindset may not be in the best possible direction to be able to get them through it. And life is gonna be a series of these curve balls. It's never gonna get better. I think the tendency, I hear this all the time, “Well, in two weeks, I'll be finished with this part of my job, my kids will be off school or on school or this will happen, this will happen. And then…” And I'm like, and then will never happen because it just is a series of these. So optimizing your mind state to be able to handle that your life differently in a way that helps you keep the weight off and doesn't push you back to regain it.

James Hill:
So reset your appetite, restore your metabolism and optimize your mind state.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, those are the challenge areas and then what the book is really to help you with.

James Hill:
So, Holly, we talk about different kinds of mind state. Why don't you talk about what we've learned about that?

Holly Wyatt:
Well, in the book, and we could do a whole episode on this too, we talk about a Voyager mind state is what we're trying to develop. So this is a mind state that not only is a positive, that definitely is part of it. It's positive, but it's also about learning and curiosity. Instead of kind of focusing on all the negative things, it really is about what if, and it's associated with new identities and possibilities and opportunities. And it all kind of goes hand in hand. It's a way to look at the curveballs that come towards you in a different way and react and then skills and strategies to react. When you have the right mind state, you can react. And that's part of the mind state is how you choose to react.

Holly Wyatt:
And so that's a huge part of the book. We call it a Voyager Mind State. We talk about getting your mind right, forward facing. It's a big chunk of the book. We could do a whole episode just on that.

James Hill:
We should do a whole episode on that.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, we should. We definitely should. Let's give them an example of a food play because I know they may be like, “What are they talking about? Okay, they're putting up the pie on the plate, but how are they doing it?”

James Hill:
Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:
[32:20] And so there's lots of plays. So obviously we can't go over all of them. But one of them, for instance, that I think a lot of people like, and this is in the food is medicine chapter. And so this is a nutrition or food play is something we call the appetite reset meal.

James Hill:
Oh, yeah. I like that one.

Holly Wyatt:
And this is a meal that we tell you how to design and it has a certain amount of kind of protein and carbohydrate and fiber in it and doesn't include a few things that is designed to start your day. Whenever the first meal of your day is, this is a meal we have you eat as a play, right? This is something you're doing that then translates the science and allows your appetite to start off kind of the hormonal insulin and glucose and a lot of the physiology involved to start it right. Because I know a lot of times for me and other people, if you start off with the wrong meal, you're fighting it all day long.

James Hill:
Yep.

Holly Wyatt:
So this is a meal that can really reset that appetite, helps kind of get you where the rest of the day you're going to be in more control. You're going to be able to have and eat and regulate your appetite easier by starting with this first meal of the day. And I think of it almost like a medication. Instead of a pill or an injection, you eat this meal to do the same thing, to try to control that appetite. And there's something about starting the day with it that starts it off. And I think there's a mind state piece to it, too. Here's what I'm doing, right? I'm starting off. I'm doing I'm taking action and then allowing the day to go and setting yourself up really for success. So we tell you how what that meal looks like. But I think that's a great example of how you're taking the principles of what should work and really putting it into something you can make, you can do that translates those principles and can help you not regain the weight.

James Hill:
And so we have tons of these plays in the book and you can choose ones that fit for you.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. That's how you mix and match. You put together your own playbook. And the other piece, and we don't even have time to go into this, is then after you put your plays together and you have your own game plan, and so you have your own strategy that fits what you need, then it's about making it easier. And that's where we bring in the environment, routines and rituals, a little bit of an identity work, community. And that's the piece that really surrounds the whole plays, all the plays that you're doing to make it as easy as possible.

James Hill:
Yeah. And the other thing we do, Holly, we have a chapter where we talk about redefining success, that at the end of the day, it's not the number on the scale people are after. They're after an enhanced quality of life. They're after happiness. And weight, maintaining weight can be a part of that. This is where the mind state comes in. With the right mind state, you're not just achieving weight loss, but you're really sort of changing your identity. You have the opportunity to sort of reinvent yourself to become maybe the person you've always thought you were on the inside.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. You are, right? It's realigning with the real you. I really believe that. And people have drifted away from that. They've been told there's something, but it is this realignment piece. I call it coming home sometimes that is so important. And it actually feels good and it makes it easier and it makes it a fun process, which is another reason why we're making this a game book, right? A playbook, a game. This doesn't have to be hard. This is not like, I'm going to battle, you know? That doesn't work.

James Hill:
So Holly, who can benefit from this book?

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, that's a great question. And obviously, the book specifically was written for people who want to transition off or maybe they're on the GLP-1s, the new weight loss medications.

Holly Wyatt:
They've lost some weight and they're preparing to transition off or they are off. But really, anybody could benefit, even if you're just starting. Like, I would read this book to set myself up for success. And anybody really who's lost weight and wants to keep it off, it would be a good book. So I think that really fits a lot of people that are really wanting to lose weight and wanting to keep it off.

James Hill:
I think you're exactly right. And I think people who are considering going on a weight loss meds can benefit from this book. Because, again, if you're starting these meds, the meds are likely going to work for you. And so think about your long term plan. Assume the meds are going to help you get the weight off. Then what? And this book, I think, can help you think through some possible ways to approach your long-term weight loss maintenance.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. So, Jim, I'm going to put you on the spot again. I'm going to ask you something here. So kind of, I want us to get to a few listener questions, but before we get to the listener questions, what happens if we win the game, the weight loss and weight loss maintenance game? And what happens if we don't?

James Hill:
Well, if we win the weight loss game, I think we can actually lower obesity rates. I think we learn that the meds are tools that can be used. What I would really love in this country if we could prevent weight gain in the first place. But with 75% of the population overweight or obese, we've kind of missed that moment. I think using the meds combined with lifestyle can reduce obesity rates in adults. My hope would be that would then carry over to our kids, not that we necessarily use medications in kids, but people on the medications understand the importance of healthy lifestyle. That could potentially lead to environmental change that makes it easier to eat healthy and be physically active. And that could really help the next generation not gain as much weight, not develop as much obesity. If we don't win it, my fear is we're going to be right back where we were. It's going to be a blip. We're going to see a little bit of a decrease, and we're going to be right back where we started before, and we're still going to have a country where most people become overweight or obese.

Holly Wyatt:
And I think we're going to have a country where people are losing weight and regaining it. They're never in energy balance. They're either losing it or regaining it. And I don't know what that means to do those cycles over and over and over again.

James Hill:
It's not good, though. It's not good.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. You know, so I thought that worries me a little bit. But I think we are at a critical moment in history in terms of our body weight as a country. And we're going to see what happens.

James Hill:
I agree. All right, Holly, maybe it's time to talk about our special event.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. So as you can see, we love this book. And if you do go out and purchase it, we have a special event. It's free. If you go to our website, we have a new website called weightwisdom.com. It's where we are putting all of our helpful hints and books and things we have to help with weight loss and to help with weight loss maintenance. It's also where Losing the Weight Loss Meds, that book, you can order it there. But if you do order the book, we are doing a kind of master Masterclass Question and Answer on January 7th. It's going to be a Zoom event. I think it's at 7 p.m. Central Time. You just need to sign up for it. We'll send you a link and you get to ask questions. We're going to show you some of the plays. It's for people who have ordered the book and want more, want to talk about it.

Holly Wyatt:
Very cool.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, I'm excited about that. I can't wait to see. It's going to give us somefeedback, too, of the people who what people think about the book. So weightwisdom.com would be the website where you can sign up for this one night live Zoom and Jim and I will both be on it.

James Hill:
What else can you do at weightwisdom.com?

Holly Wyatt:
Well, we're working on that website. And so there, definitely, you can download, I think, we have a free PDF of five mistakes people make when they're starting GLP-1s or when I think actually they're getting off the GLP-1s. So we have resources. We're gonna keep putting resources out there and do a lot of things on that website, kind of one place everybody can go. So State of Slimmers can go there, Losing the Weight Loss Meds, if you're reading that book and you want help, go there. You can get on our mailing list there. We're going to be giving you tips and tricks and hopefully future meetings. Lots of stuff.

James Hill:
Lots of good stuff there. So make sure you check out that website and you're going to see we're going to continuously add information and tools to the weightwisdom.com.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. So I would suggest get on our mailing list so we can let you know when we put new stuff out there for you.

James Hill:
Yep.

Holly Wyatt:
All right. Do you want to do a couple of listener questions before we wrap this up?

James Hill:
Let's do a couple of quick ones.

Holly Wyatt:
First one, if I've already regained weight, can this book still help me? Absolutely. This book, whether you're going to, maybe you don't want to gain any more, or maybe you want to lose some and then maintain it again, this book really can help you wherever you are. Like I said, I would read it if I was just starting the GLP-1s to know where I need to be, what are going to be my options, what am I moving toward. It's normal to regain some weight. You shouldn't feel bad about this. You need a plan. This is what this book is all about I think this would be a great time to get the book. I think it would definitely still help them.

James Hill:
Okay, I'll do one more. Can I start using the plays while I'm on the medication? Absolutely. In fact, that's what we would like you to do. And particularly the plays for physical activity and mindless medicine, because the medications are still working. So they're going to help you eat less and be satisfied with less. But it's a great time to ramp up your physical activity, to work on your mind state. And then if you decide to come off the medications, you're going to be ahead of the game.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. So I'm going to do one more because I liked this one. What if my appetite comes roaring back? Will the plays actually work? And well, that's what you're going to see. Yes, I do think these plays work. That's what it was written for to help when that appetite comes back because we know it is and put some things in place that can replace the medication and keep that appetite from coming back as strong. That's really one of the big things that we do in the book.

James Hill:
All right, let's quickly do our vulnerability segment. I'll start. Holly, as we get ready to release the book, what are you most excited about and what scares you the most?

Holly Wyatt:
Oh, I think it's the same thing. I'm most excited about finally being able to take what we've worked so hard on for so long and get it out there for a lot of people to use. I feel like this is like, I've waited my whole career for this. This is like the moment. And that's very, very exciting because that's my purpose and my passion, and it's always been. I think it also scares me is like, what if people don't like it? It's my baby. It's my passion. And what if people say, nah, we don't want it. We don't like it, you know, and so I think it's both.

James Hill:
Yeah. Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:
All right, Jim, what's one thing about this book or this moment that feels big or vulnerable for you as we launch it?

James Hill:
Well, I believe that this book is incredibly important in that it can potentially help a lot of people avoid the weight regain that occurs for most people that stop the meds. My fear is we're in a field that's so noisy. There are so many books. There are so many quick fixes out there. How do we rise above the noise? We bring science. We bring our personal experience. But, you know, in this day and age of everybody is an expert on nutrition and weight, how do we rise above to get people to understand that what we're giving them is their best chance of success?

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. Yeah. The noise. Yeah, I agree.

James Hill:
All right. So, Holly, here's the pie on the plate.

Holly Wyatt:
I love it.

James Hill:
What is the pie on the plate? I'll ask you.

Holly Wyatt:
All right. Here's a little pie on the plate. This book exists because people deserve more than weight loss, Jim. They deserve weight stability. They deserve to be confident. They deserve a plan that actually works in real life.

James Hill:
Yeah, and we want our readers to understand that you're not broken. Your biology isn't the enemy. It can work with you. You're living in a moment of incredible opportunity, but only if you know how to navigate the transition off these medications.

Holly Wyatt:
This book is different because it finally, I think, fills the gap that no one has filled before or we haven't filled very well before. The gap between losing weight and keeping it off, that transition, and then what you need to move into, it gives you the structure, it gives you the plays, it gives you the mind state that makes success sustainable.

James Hill:
Yeah, Holly. And ultimately, this book lets people do something very powerful to turn weight loss into weight wisdom.

Holly Wyatt:
Oh, I love how you got that in there.

James Hill:
Yeah, it takes you from I hope I can keep this off to I know what to do next.

Holly Wyatt:
Oh, that's beautiful.

James Hill:
Well, thanks everybody for joining us. Holly and I had fun talking about the behind-the-scenes processes in writing the book. We loved bringing you into this process.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, and we'll be bringing more from the book to you, but let us know what you like, what you want to hear more of. We're excited to continue doing this podcast for you.

James Hill:
And just head to weightwisdom.com to sign up and get your link.

Holly Wyatt:
All right. Bye, everybody.

James Hill:
Bye. 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.

James 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.