#20 - Ana Reyes-Ouzts

Ana Reyes-Ouzts shares her story of a successful weight-loss journey and how her choices business and networking have led her to inspire and help others. This is a story of a mom, a paralegal turned spin instructor, turned entrepreneur and image consultant, make-up artist and she also runs a women's networking group called Bold Ladies in Business of Flagler County. 

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Transcript

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This is Angela Grayson from the Loving Life Fitness Podcast. To help others in their fitness journey. It's All Possible! It’s time to wake up. Here we go. Hello, everyone. This is Angela Grayson from the Loving Life Fitness Podcast, where we talk to professionals and everyday people just like you and me about their health and fitness and their journey in life to get to where they are today. And today we have with us Ana Reyes-Ouzts. And we are going to be talking about her journey. Hi Ana, how are you today? I'm doing awesome. Angela. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to share and spend some time with you. Yes, me too. You're a wonderful person and I see you doing so much and I can't wait to hear more about your interesting life. Start with your journey in life that relates to health and fitness. Maybe people who have inspired you. So go ahead and talk a little bit about yourself. Thank you for this opportunity because like you said, everybody has a journey and somehow we end up here. I am short of almost 64. I'll be 64 next year. So I have a lot of chapters, right? As you get older, you have more chapters in your book. But my journey really with health started as a young person. I got married young. I had my daughters in my twenties and, you know, life was just it was good. But I kept gaining weight and gaining weight and gaining weight. And in my thirties, my early thirties, I really picked out, I believe, my heaviest weight that I could ever imagine. And I get super emotional because it's something that Is that a good part of your life is sort of a sad part. My mom, God bless her, she would always try and say, you know, you should really try to lose weight. So she kept giving me these diets and popping up. And there was a diet, actually, it happened with Publix. So Publix got together with the American Heart Association and there was a doctor and the book is still in existence because I chapter that was called The Rotation Diet. And every week they would give you the little sheet with the food that you would buy and you would eat. And it was a cycle of 21 days. That's why it was called the rotation Diet. Mind you, I was a young mom and had little kids and life was super busy. So diet and exercise was not in my agenda. I looked at it and I said, You know, this kind of looks like the food I could eat. And I brought my, you know, the father of my children, which was not I'm not married to him anymore. And my two little girls, which now are grown women. And I said, look at this weight, because I'm never going to weigh this again. That was that decision that you have to make. Nobody else can really do it for you. And I always say that it's your own journey when you're ready, however that may look, whatever diet you do and I don't like to use the word diet, it's a lifestyle change. And whatever exercise you're going to do, it has to work for you and you can never do it for anybody else. So I shamefully got on the scale. And I can say that I weighed £197 when I weighed myself that day. And that was harsh. 34 years ago. I've never weight that again. One of the journeys that I did was it took me a whole year to lose the weight. There is no magic pill to lose weight instantly. It has to be a healthy journey. I always tell people that that's the way that you should. And the most important thing is that take your time to lose it. It took you a minute to gain all that weight. Why would you want to lose it in one second? You can't. You have to be patient with yourself. And one of my best fitness stories and I have so many to still share. I didn't really go into the gym and my ex was really into fitness. And he did bodybuilding in weight. So I was around all that atmosphere, but I wasn't into it. So I decided to go to the gym and at first said, You know, I'm going to date myself so bad. Richard Simmons had the best gym and I loved doing the step and stuff. And so I started to go there. But then I said, You know what? And now I'm going to go, You know, when I was still super chubby, I started to go to now I believe it's L.A. Fitness used to be called Vic Tanni, completely dating myself. Again, it went to like 300 different kinds of names. And I would go there and do my stuff. And then a year later, I was still going there and somebody was coming up to me. A gentleman is now. Do you come here often? I go, Actually, I've been here for a year. I was that chubby girl that was in the corner. And now you're talking to me because I weigh X amount of pounds less. So it goes to show you that this stigma of being overweight or not being overweight for me was like and I do want to say that even though I was that overweight, I was always super confident. I need to share that because if I don't, I'd be cheating myself of who I really am. Being overweight never defined who I was. I was always a positive person. I always, you know, took super good care of myself, always into the makeup and my clothing. And I held my weight really well because people didn't imagine that I had lost that much weight. I lost £50 immediately. Probably took me like six, seven months, eight months to lose it. And then I did go to a doctor that had been an OBGYN specialist and now had realized how many women as they've had children and go through hormones and all that stuff, have a hard time losing weight. So he basically coached me how to lose weight. I really got into like a lot of less calories, probably like less than a thousand calories a day. So it was very regimented diet because my body had gotten into a super plateau and I had it lost any weight. So that doctor helped me with my last journey and I lost like £30 with him. So it came out to be like 75 to £80. And he passed away because I checked to see. And one of the things that he said was, you're one of the few people that lost that much weight and kind of bounced back into your own skin because sometimes your body looks weird or or does doesn't feel good or you or you're not healthy. But I was healthy because I did it slowly again, that magic were too slowly. So I came into my own, of course, a new journey. I had lost all this weight and is also confident with myself. Fast forward, I always was in the gym trying to exercise and find my best self and I loved spinning. Spinning was my thing, my addiction, my everything and my husband. Now, Henry said, You know, you should really become an instructor. I'm like, Me, an instructor? Like, No, no, no. I like I like being here and enjoyed myself and having that fun ride. And I was working out at Bally's, which was Big Tanny Now it's Bally's, the best corporate story ever? Yeah, right. So the regional manager was spending a lot of time in that particular club because it needed to be revamped. So you know how corporate works. Mysterious ways. Her name was Donna and she said, you know, I really like how you you do your class at spinning. I'd like for you to become an instructor. And I said, you know, that's so weird. Did you asking me this because like my then boyfriend, my husband, he said I should do it. She said, Well, you know, we will pay for you to become an instructor. And back then it was spinning and it was Johnny G. Which came. If anybody knows the story from spinning, it's from California. He was a real California dude and he loved to train cycling outdoors but realizes sometimes it was raining. People got run over by a car and it's dangerous, right? So his way of training was that he created the spin program. So I said that I would do it. And it was a rigorous training. If you know you're an instructor and you understand training takes time and effort. And so then I fast forward got hired and of course they gave me that wonderful slot

at 6: 8:01

00 in the morning on a Thursday because I was a paralegal. So every time that my class would come up, I wouldn't sleep the night that whole night thinking I wasn't going to get up. Why would I not get up like, oh my gosh. But it was actually something that I didn't realize that I was called to do was to coach people to their own successes. I became the queen of Monday night, Thursday morning, and then Saturday morning. So I really found my love for fitness and helping other people find their journey and feeling good about themselves. And again, I love all exercises, so I feel like if you find your guru, it's going to be amazing. I know that you're yoga. I am completely obsessed with you. I love to do weights. I was running a lot, but I injured my back. So now I walk. It's whatever that fitness journey looks like for you. Yeah, I struggle with five or £10, but everybody does. I know what I do wrong and then I go right back to I got to get back to my little regimen of, you know, eating healthy, knowing what this body needs to do. Yeah, we have to give ourselves grace and be human. Yes. Yes. And then come back to where we were before. Same thing when the holidays come, when you go to space, you need to give yourself grace, give yourself the time. And as long as you know that when you get back, you'll be able to get right back into it. Not everybody has that passion for fitness, so that's what makes it hard for so many others. But the way you try to reach out and help other people by becoming a spin instructor, and I'm sure that takes you into different realms too, because then people start coming to you after class and talking to you about different things. Then it and it does feel good to help others because it's not always so simple when you don't have the drive and the stamina to do it all on your own. But the fat also that you are able to get on a program. When you realized that you had to make a turnaround in your life and you didn't yo yo back and forth though, that happens to so many people. And that's the hardest thing for me to train into people's minds. The psychological aspect of trying to stay healthy and into shape and ready for life. Because not only does our fitness level help us with our bodies and our health, but also our minds. What has your fitness journey done for your mind? Great point. And I believe that it's not just like you said, it's not just the physical sense and the medical part of, oh, you're going to be living a healthier life, but your head is the healthiest. I would say that those six inches between your two ears can really mess you up your brain. But when you are in a positive space in your self, that's what you portray, That's what you have. You sleep better, you have better energy. Who is around you as well is important because then you're around people that are also taking care of themselves and they're in that positive space. So the whole journey is amazing. It's a transformation that it does start with you, but if you find a community of other people that are into what you do, then you're cheering each other on as well. So it all becomes super positive. And I love the point you make because as an instructor, people look up to you and you know, you can really make a difference in how somebody's going to feel about themselves. You have a choice every day to wake up and do the right thing for yourself, or you can make the choice not to against you. But when you surround yourself with people that if you don't show up for a minute, you're going to show up. Hey, you haven't been to class. And I mean, there's everything, okay, AB, I miss you there. And you find that community of people that love what you're doing as well. Then there's accountability, there's positivity and there's a sense of you're feeling good about yourself and you're helping other people. It goes full circle, in my opinion. You don't have to be an instructor to feel good about it. You just have to be willing to work on you to help other people. And if they see you changing, they can say, Wow, if she did it, I could do it too. Does it matter how old you are where you came from, what your background is? You just have to make that decision to do it. The fact that you had to go through so much to finally become that spin instructor. Yeah. You had a journey to talk about. Yeah. You know, sometimes I look at myself and I've always been into health and fitness. That's just me. Some words exercise all my life, so I don't have that kind of a story to tell people. I can tell people other people's stories, but try to help them in that way. Yeah. So no matter how much I try, I really of course, that hasn't happened to me, so I don't really understand it. But that's my journey. So it is what it is. But I'm still trying to help other people with theirs. So just the fact that you're putting this together, I could say something to one person that could trigger their feelings and say, You know what, I can do it too, because they see me and they think I've always looked like this because maybe people don't know me from 30 plus years ago and don't know that. You know, I used to be that chubby girl that didn't really do anything to lose weight at that point. But I feel like, yes, I can do this. And I did, and I made that decision. So if I can help one person. So when people are overweight and I'll say, you know what, I can relate to you, they don't know that I can until I open up and you kind of share with them where I've been that's so beautiful. And that is the reason why I started doing these podcasts, because I could only give people so much information. I'm only one person. I can't be an expert on everything. So by talking to other people about their journey, somebody might say, Oh, that's me, you know? Yeah, look at look at her. You know, I can if she can do it, I can do it, you know, and I need to get up every morning and do things just a little bit differently. You said earlier lifestyle changes making my style changes. And you know, we can all do that. Change is hard. Most people do not like change in their life, but that's the only way that things are going to happen and things are going to get better. We need to make little changes at a time to make our lives better. I agree. I agree. I think that I come from a generation where, like my mom never went to the gym and I see that the effects of what's happening to her now, her health, I always said, gosh, I don't want to be that person. I want to be active. I want to live a healthy life for myself, for my kids, for my grandkids, and, you know, just have some sort of quality of life. And not that it's going to change, but it's going to make it better if you're active and, you know, for arthritis purposes, for your joints. Yoga has opened so many more doors for health and feeling good about myself and my body because I needed that. I wasn't always doing yo that would do hot yoga like once in a while and I would incorporate it with my spinning. And I did CrossFit and I was super intense, but I got injured. So being injured I had to pull back and say, What's working for me or what's worked for me in the past? It was my eluga and so that helps me physically and mentally stay in that zone of health. And I still do the weights and I still walk. And if I can incorporate a spin class here and there now, then kind of like finding that balance of my fitness. So you're right, it needs to be a decision that you make. I can't explain it to the person. It's just when you wake up and they say, I'm tired of of looking like this or or feeling unhealthy or not feeling my best, You you can do it. Nobody can tell you. You wake up that day and it's like the light bulb went off and then you have to stick to it. Is it going to be easy? Not going to be easy. If it was easy, then everybody would look like a rock star. But it's not going to be easy because you have to make tough decisions of eating healthy and making those choices and planning ahead and planning for, you know, a vacation or planning out. And not that you're going to never eat any of those things again. That's not life is finding a balance. You ate a lot during don't do peaceful don't be so hard on yourself then just bounce back and start up again. But you can't let it go. Percentage just escalates and keeps going and keeps going. Before you know it, you're back where you started. Let's talk a little bit about the doctor that you had in your life that really helped you a lot and got to your plateau. That is a big problem for a lot of women hitting the plateau and not knowing what to do to make changes, to keep on going forward and sometimes give up. So talk a little bit about what that doctor specifically did for you. If you can remember, that was a million years ago. But the most important thing is that terrible word accountability. So it was based on calorie intake, it was low calorie. You really were not supposed to exercise as much because when you had that little amount of calories and he you know, he has to test you, make sure that you're healthy for it. He would give me amino acid shots, which helps you to burn fat and B12 shots, which is also very healthy as well. And then going in to talk with him once a week and weighing yourself, well, kind of like, okay, I have to stay with this specifically to get on a scale every week. So I really felt like that was it. Another thing that I cut completely and don't hate? The haters want to hate me. Diet Coke. Diet Coke. I was so addicted to Diet Coke. I made the decision not to drink Diet Coke, not to drink caffeine. I'm one cup of coffee person and the rest of it is wah wah with lemon water. With coconut water like I do not drink coffee. That's not my friend. Those are one of the things that he took away and is probably the best thing that he did for me because diet Coke, I feel like those artificial sweeteners kind of kick in your desire to even eat more. I don't know what it is. I can't explain it, but it really did help. And once he realized that I had lost all my weight, he says, You're done. You just now need to find your maintenance program. So you just had to kind of slowly incorporate a balanced diet. And I never really like I never really gained it back. Yet ten or £15, always, always and forever. By ten or £15. I battled them always, but that's just me. It's my metabolism. I think that one of the things that if you hit a plateau, go and talk with your doctor, get your get your bloodwork. I'm not a doctor, but the doctor can see if there's hormones involved. If it's your thyroid, there might be something then that's not allowing you to lose a weight, because if you're doing everything that you're doing, you've cut the calories, you've cut, you know, whatever you're doing, you're exercising with moderation, You're you're drinking your water and you're not seeing anything. There might be something else. So you can't be your own doctor. You have to find seek at that point. If you you know, you need to lose a lot of weight. If you need a little bit of weight, go the healthy route. That's the most important thing these days. When you exercise, what is your routine look like and do you do it on your own with others requests? All right. So my yoga is my staple. I pretty much go to yoga between four and five times a week. The days that I don't do yoga. Like yesterday, I didn't yoga, but I did weights. I go to the gym. I do 30 minutes of wait, 30 to 45 minutes. And if I don't find the time to go to the gym, I put a YouTube video that's a 30 minute workout with weights and that's what I do. And it's not heavy weights, it's just repetition. Something to get that body into a weight bearing role. From my route, my pulse. I feel like I need that. Even my doctor said, just got to keep incorporating those weights. Sometimes I just do a really nice walk, three mile walk, brisk walk. I feel like it's so good for your heart and then you're outdoors. The weather's amazing. I love a brisk walk. At least once a week and that's it. I haven't really found a spinning gym here. There's one in Saint Augustine and one in Daytona of the state that I like. I like to incorporate that back into my repertoire of exercise in. If I can get that, I'm happy. I'm happy with how I feel. I think that I found a great balance again of commitment at least six times a week. I'm exercising, I'll take off one day, but less than that, then you're just not really doing anything. You're just kind of like riding the wave, but not really making an impact on your health. It's so important to keep the body moving. Yes. And as we get older, so good for the bones. You all that weight bearing exercise, the doctors will tell you that we definitely need that our bodies start going backwards after the age of 30. If we don't find some kind of exercise with weight bearing exercise, our bodies are going to start going backwards, going to have all kinds of problems, especially if it's in your genes. Biology to be very prone to arthritis, osteoporosis, heart problems. Why not get on top of it? Get a jumpstart on that. Yeah. And then for for people who don't have the drive to get out there and work out on their own, what do you advise for them? That's a super good question. So I think I go back to community because I feel like if they find a community, there's a million groups in our community that are free. Find something. There's moms that walk. There's groups that walk at sunrise. Sunrise, not my thing. I don't want to work at sunrise. Life, but if I work for somebody else, you know, I woke up forever at sunrise, but somebody out there might that might be that perfect time. But then again, there's accountability. There's great gyms here. When I first came here, I joined a gym and there was a community. I have found amazing friends from that gym from going there. And then you're excited to take those group classes. If you're not the kind of person that has that commitment to yourself or has the discipline to go do weights on your own, find a class and go with the group class. I believe that there's so much energy and you feed off each person's energy and then you find your commitment. And if you're not there, they're going to say, Oh my gosh, Angela didn't show up to class today. I wonder what's going on. She hasn't been here for a couple of days. So they're going to check up on you because now you're friends. There's commitment, there's accountability. I love CrossFit prospects for everybody. When I was at my best, I was turning 50 and I wanted to be my best version of me. I was like on it. It was at the beach. Was it hard? Yes. Was it awesome? Yes. But I was committed. It was a group of us to this day. We're all friends and I felt like, Yeah, I can do this. So there's so many different stages of different opportunities that you can find. I think it has to be in a group. If you don't have discipline, find your way. Very good. Yeah. There's a new little place we have here on Flagler Beach called Beachfront Nutrition. Mean. I know it's so cute, but I love the people there that are awesome. Raymond and his little family there and they do their beach workouts and it's just amazing how many people are attending his beach workouts and they do the bridge walks, you know, one in the you know, another one in the evenings. They're also going to be starting a men's group on Sunday. Sleepy Sadie Yeah. So and it's all free. Like you said something for everybody there's just have to find your way. I mean you need people who have lived here that a long time. But because of the new business that's opened, you know they found a way to round people up nice amounts and oh, great. So if anybody's looking anybody that's looking for something like that, they do all kinds of workouts where people can get involved. I'll love going to see all levels of people out there on the agreed. Yeah, love that. So in talking about community, you are an amazing individual when it comes to bringing women together. So tell us about the other things that you do in your life to help women, to support women, to become more successful. Tell us. Yeah, I'm from Fort Lauderdale and I had always been networking and was, you know, in a community where I had to get out there and do what I needed to do. I was a a director, a catalog sales director with Mary Kay. And so I met so many women and did a lot of networking. And I always, always felt like, gosh, if I can do this a different way, I would always want to do it differently were making connections. And so I started to have like little groups at my house back in Fort Lauderdale and making friends and just making breaking relationships with women that would help each other out. Fast forward, we retired here to Palm Coast. My husband is a retired firefighter there, and I kind of kept doing my thing. I became a stylist with Kabi, which was clothing. And I can if I can find my niche and I didn't. So I started to do the same thing again. I started to do it at my house and, you know, meeting business women and try to invite them and trying to do that. And I was always into my makeup and I was working with Dior and some other things. And so COVID hit, and that was the end of that. And almost like ten months into COVID, my sister was like, oh, you know, I moved here, I really need some help. And I said, I don't know, I'm done with all this. I'm shutting everything down. I stepped down from everything. I was still doing my makeup. And, you know, I you know, I represent a line and I did my lashes and stuff like that. And so she said, Well, let's try it and see what happened. Then I said, Okay, well, we'll very reluctantly, I wasn't ready to do anything else, so I'm not going to tell you anything different. In June, three plus years ago, we met at Hooligans over at the parking lot and it was like nine or ten girls that were there. And I call them the OGs of of our group, and the rest is history. You know, we really found that this was a sense that women wanted to have a community where they could meet and build relationships and get to know each other better and help each other and their businesses. And it's grown so much, both ladies and business sort of a movement. We help other women succeed in their own business. So when you do that, then great things happen. You know, I just I still have an online business with my clothing and my makeup, and that's my fun stuff. I, you know, I enjoy helping women feel good about themselves. I feel like that's my love language, My calling card is to help women succeed. And my sister is my honestly, my everything. She helps everything run it. We have an incredible group of women in all our different chapters already, and we officially became a nonprofit, which I think was everything for me to help the community and give back. If you have a platform that you could help a business woman, help the community with their charities and help a local restaurant or an organization that we can give back to them as well, then we're helping a lot of people move forward. So it really has been a blessing and I'm very excited that we've been able to make a difference in our community and moving forward, growing. It's expanding and the blessings have been unbelievable and I'm glad that the women that are there are really to empower each other and make a difference. And it brings me an immense amount of joy to see the growth that that it has brought. And that's kind of how we met through one of one of our friends. And so, you know, I always say that there's room for everybody at the table. There's no competition. We really want to help each other out and make sure that everybody is winning. I've been to some of your meetings that you have once a month with both ladies and business, and every time I'm there, it's just so exciting. And to hear people talk about what they do. So many women in different areas of business all trying to get out there and make new friends and new acquaintances and network, it's really a great thing and it's always so much fun. I wish I could come more often and unfortunately, my life and my businesses keep me crazy busy and but I come when I can and I end up making new acquaintances. I love that. Yeah. The last time I came, three people have have booked with me for my podcast. You know, I love it. Everybody's got such an interesting story so that we can get you on the air and try to help other people in their life to expand it even further. I love it. Yeah, that's I'm fascinated with how we can connect with different people, different backgrounds, and make a difference and network with each other and help our businesses. And maybe support that business somehow. And it's just wonderful. You're also an image consultant. Yeah, tell us about that. So an image consultant exactly what it is. So I have an online clothing line. It's Copper and Rose and I represent Farmacy, which is a beautiful makeup line. So if somebody like struggling and says, you know, I need a little pick me up or go through my closet and see what's going on and, you know, just giving you a couple of tips and how do you look your best? You know, not that everything has to be about makeup and clothing, but if you feel I always say if you feel good about yourselves and you bring your best face forward, then everything kind of comes together. So I give them tips on how to look their best. And, you know, I love I love helping a woman feel good about yourself. I also I freelance for Chanel, like in November. I have an event and I'll be there doing their makeup. And I love the transformation when I do their makeup and they see themselves with the product finished. And it's such a such a joy because it really is like, Oh my gosh, like I look so beautiful. You did that for me, but I kind of teach them step by step, like, how do you put your makeup on and what's your best look? And I feel like as I've aged, I feel like less is more for me now. Like I used to wear more makeup, now we're less makeup. I like to see just radiate what is the best for me, which is now it's lesson and enjoying that that process. I think it's awesome. So little tips to help us look our best. So that's why not if it's because something is about to read, I mean, it seems like these days women don't wear as much makeup now. It's more of a beautiful natural. Yes. That glow and to highlight what what is already there. Yeah I love that. I really do. I'm enjoying that process. I never thought I'd be that one. But here I am saying less is more and and your clothes that you wear, it's such a reflection on what you do because you always look so feminine and so beautiful. Very nice. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, there's something for everybody. Although I'm too old for that. No, you're not too old. You have to own it. There is a stage for everything but you. Just as long as you're wearing things that don't make you look ridiculous, it's just aging gracefully. I always say that I'm not going down without a fight. I'm just going to keep going. I think if you find your style, whether it's boho, whether it's traditional, what was classic, there's pieces that you can add to your wardrobe that will make you look beautiful and not look overdone. Trendy is is tricky. You can add a couple of pieces to the clothes that you already have. And I think that you can modernizing a little bit and be so pretty and you don't have to spend a lot of money. You just have to have a couple of great pieces. And before you know it, you're like, Wow, I just revamped my little wardrobe with a maybe a nice jacket, a nice pair of jeans, some jewelry, and I'm ready to go. And then you can find four or five different looks within those little pieces. So that's kind of the magic of image consulting. So you talked a little bit about your mother earlier, how she was an inspiration for you to help you turn around and get in the right direction. Yeah, and I'm sure that now she looks at you and she's so proud of you in so many ways. It's interesting. I come from her background is my parents are pubic. And, you know, in our lifetime, you know, our foods were different. And even when I was little, I remember that my mom, you know, I was I was a little bit chubby. And my mom put me on a diet and I was like, I was so miserable. And she would give me those vegetables and I would be crying. I want to eat them. And, you know, but she helped me not to be that chubby girl, you know, into adolescent and getting myself together when I was a teenager, which is so important to be healthy even as a teenager, because there's so much obesity out there. And so she she did it from a place of kindness. She knew that I needed to lose weight. But, you know, as a mom, you try to give advice. I have daughters, too, you know, So sometimes they listen. Sometimes they do. But she did do it from a kid place. You would just like kind of throw the little diet there. Look, this is a really good diet for you. I think you can enjoy it. So, yeah, everybody was proud of me. And, you know, a lot of my friends and family said, you know, you're one of those few people that really never went back to, like you said, that yo yo effect of losing £70 and then going right back to it. Why would you do that to your body? First of all, it's terrible for your heart and then, you know, you put all that effort into losing that weight. Let's kind of stick to it, though. Yeah. I appreciate my mom. She's definitely of that old school of Cuban parents, but they're you know, they're such good people. And I appreciate that she did give me that incentive to lose the weight. So and my family, my friends, kind of stuck to me and helped me because sometimes, you know, you have people, you know, you're not going to lose a weight. They don't really you're not surrounded by people that are encouraging you to do it. So you have to keep your drive and just keep on going and show them. Tell them, tell yourself I'm going to say, do them. I can do this so much. Yes, I have done it. I can do it, too. Absolutely. Totally. 100%. Anybody can do it as a decision, whatever level it is, whether it's£5, £10, £200. There's so many people that I've seen that have done it. And that's a great decision. You know, the and it was amazing, though, that you were able psychologically to keep your attitude about yourself or the vibrant, positive attitude, even when you were overweight. Because I've noticed that the psychological part of it all with people who are heavy and do manage to lose so many pounds, still see themselves as being heavy. They still walk like they're heavy, even though they're not. And it's so hard as a trainer to get people to drop the psychological stigmas and start acting differently. That's a good point. So I will share that. Even though none of the clothes that I had, I wish I wish I could have done that. Jenny Craig, where I had those pants that were like the size 20 and now of a size two, I still saw myself as overweight. It's very, very, very hard on your mind. It takes a very long time to see yourself as a thin person, not as an person. It just it plays games on you and you're not there. And even though people are. Oh, my gosh, you look so great. Oh, my God, you look so great. But you're not there yet. It really takes a minute. I think that's why also sometimes I didn't I didn't get any therapy or anything like that. I basically coached myself into that mentality that you're good and you've got this and you know you are thin. But it did. Take me a minute. That's a great point. That's one of the things that I see. Why might sometimes people might need to get some counseling with their weight loss because it is it's a transition. I always say I had like a little person living inside of me that now is gone and you kind of have to weigh that goodbye. And some people don't know how to let it go. I don't know. I don't know all the psychology behind it. But for me, it did take a minute. It's a it's a thing. It's a thing you don't see yourself. So, you know, you as coaching people to their success, as you understand the struggles that they go through. Yeah, it's not over when it's over. Continual journey for sure. Absolutely. Sticking around positive like minded people. Yes, Definitely helps. Yes. Yes. You you know, there's a lot of negative Nellies out there that are going to say, oh, you know, I've done that diet and I'm not going to lose it. And well, maybe it's going to work for me, you know, like you just have to give it a minute. I can't let that negativity get into my head because it could you know, you have to stay positive again every morning. You have a choice to live positive or go the other route. Choice is yours. Absolutely. So do you still plan your meals or are you a little freer with that? Yeah, I'm not like that anymore. When I want to get back on that regiment, then I have to plan it. You know, if I am on a specific plan that I want to keep, you know, I kind of already know what's going to work for me and what's not. You know, I you know, you know, you know, snacking is is big. If I'm going to a snack and has to make good choices, if not, I fall off the wagon. That's always been kind of my downfall. I love like I like snacks. That's my thing. I don't eat big meals. I just like grace all day. Right is good because then you get smaller meals. I, I tend to do the the fasting so I just literally I go to your gotten an empty stomach. I cannot eat anything. It's just doesn't do me well the heat just not not good so I just have a cup of coffee and when I get back 1030 11 technically when I have my breakfast I'll have a snack or mid-afternoon and then I try to eat early dinner. That's another thing. I don't like to eat early dinners. That is your for me, I think the biggest downfall in anybody that's trying to lose weight or to even maintain a healthy lifestyle. I'm not a big drinker. I don't drink a lot of alcohol. I'll socially once in a blue moon, but it's not my thing either. Not because of anything. It's just they don't. I don't like it. It's okay. I do love sweets. That's my thing. But I try to stay away from them. I'll. I'll have something sweet once in a blue, but I know that I'm not supposed to. So those just making healthier choices with the stuff that we have. Why I like in white worked for me to have the rotation diet was because it had things that I like to eat and it was for 21 days and you recycle and you start over again. It was a rotation made by a doctor who had had a heart attack. He has a great story. I forget his name and he basically, as a cardiologist, said, I was going to die. I was a doctor. And he said, needs it. If you don't lose weight, you're going to die. So somebody tells you that, gosh, you better do something about this. It could happen to you. Right? So that was like so I read his book and then I thought I would do a little diets all the time. Have I done 1000 different our diets? Sure. They haven't worked for me. You have to find what works for you. There's so many different choices out there. Again, you have to find things that you like because if it's going to give you stuff you don't like, you're setting yourself up for failure. End of story. You can't drink soup for 21 days and think it's going to be awesome. Like those diets don't don't work. I think it'll be a very just a quick fix to lose a couple of pounds to put a dress on. But then you're right back. You eat and you gain those £5 back like this. So you got to find what works best for you. You know, maybe go to when you get your annual checkup, talk to your doctors. Hey, what do you think would be my best in my. And sometimes your own doctor has diets for you that you know and I using the word diet it do hate it because it's just a stigma. It's a lifestyle change. It's making healthy choices and making that decision that you want to live healthy, however that may be. You don't want to look like Barbie. That's okay. You want to look healthy and feel healthy that when you're blood work comes in every year, you're like, I feel good about myself. I'm good. So that's that's the best advice that I can give anybody. Yes. And you can still keep up with those young grandchildren of yours. Yes. Yes, yes. Yeah. And so many of them. How many do you love? I have six. I love them all. They're all some of them live here. I'm close. Some of the little Orlando. So they're pretty close. We close? Yeah. Not have close across the country. So. No, no. Normal. Yes. I'm very, very blessed and very fortunate to have my family close by. That makes me happy. Nice. Yes. Family is a lot. Yeah, it is. It is. Hey, Anna. So tell me if you were to give our listeners a goal to achieve in their health and fitness lifestyle changes, maybe what would you like to tell our listeners? That's a good one. Again, I think that don't set yourself up for failure, set yourself up for your own success. And I always say that you can eat an elephant one bite in the time. You can eat it all at once. So it's little goals and reward yourself with those little goals. Don't be so hard on yourself. Weigh yourself every day. That's just going to beat you up and you're just going to be like, No, get a goal. Whatever that goal is, if you find whatever exercise you feel happy with, stick to that and stick to small goals. But you know what? I want to lose £5. That's perfect. And you know, wow, this works. And then you're like, okay, maybe I can lose ten now. So just small goals and just go, Don't rush it. It took you a long time to gain that weight. Is going to take a minute to lose and feel good about whatever. If it's just£1, it's £1 that you lost, however that may look. And that is really ultimately the best all the way to the new Year to the weight. Why don't you start now? Making healthier choices today, said of eating a piece of cake, have a piece of fruit instead of having a Diet Coke, have a water with some limit Healthy little choices that you make and things that you cut out are going to start to make a difference. Before you know it, you're like, Wow, this is really awesome. And you see the results already. Your going to look better, you're going to feel better, you're going to have better energy, and then you're going to want to keep with those good goals because then you're not sabotaging yourself to feel bad. That's my best advice. Absolutely. Yes. Great advice. Look, I love that. I love it, Love it, Love it. All right, Ana. So if anybody wants to reach out to you bold ladies in business or your image consulting or as a makeup artist, we'll have that that information for people in our show notes. So you never know who might reach out to you and seek your way. Their advice or them want to get involved in the bold ladies. Absolutely. Welcome. More people, right? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. It's been so much fun. Thank you for coming on. Believe me, you will be an inspiration to others out there. You are a great day. This is Angela Grayson from the Loving Life Fitness Podcast. To help others in their fitness journey. It’s all possible! It's time to wake up. Here we go.