 Hi, I'm Jackie Weirach and this is you and your health and welcome back to join me in welcoming Melissa's story. Melissa, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for having me. We have known each other for a couple of years and I've watched you transform into this amazing teacher and student. And you have a company, Body Life Now, you're a certified eating psychology coach. And this all kind of transformed over the last, what, four years, five years? Four years. So I remember us talking and you were going to, you were considering going back to school. Why don't we start talking about that? Yeah, so I was at a point in my life where, you know, I just felt a calling to learn more. And I was looking into different nutrition programs and also psychology programs because I know that I love those two things. I love working with people and I love nutrition. So I was looking around online and looking into some health coaching programs as well. And all of a sudden this thing popped up on my computer and it was called the Institute for the Psychology of Eating. And I looked through that program and it just had everything that I wanted to study. A huge piece was nutrition but it's also like delving into why people eat the way they do, how people use food. And, you know, looking into the struggles behind people's ways of eating. Looking into body image and binge eating and overeating and all sorts of, you know, the kind of negative places where we can get stuck in our relationship to food. And it was an online program so that I could just, you know, instantly start and didn't have to kind of wait a long time. I didn't have to wait four or five years to help someone and that really spoke to me. I was ready to kind of jump in and it was life-changing. And you have children and a husband and a house to manage and animals. How did you like do all of that and go to school as well? Well, I love to learn and when I set my mind to something I'm extremely disciplined. So I would just wake up early in the morning and study for a couple of hours before everyone woke up and that was kind of like my time. And yeah, that worked out really well. And that was also a real, you know, the beauty of that type of program too. I can still do the rest of my life. Or did you connect with other students and one-on-one as you were going through this or was it just online? Oh, yeah. There were a big number of students and we had like a private Facebook group and a private forum. We connected in a huge way. We also had peer coaching. So I would, we would be practicing coaching the entire time and we would switch partners. It was just, it was wonderful to be able to form those relationships during the program. And then after you finished the program, you started your business. Yeah. Tell me about that. So I wanted to, a lot of people take this work and they work online exclusively. And I love working with people one-on-one. I do also have people who I work with over the phone or over Skype. But I knew I wanted to have an office so I found a space here in Montpelier. And it's at 250 Main Street in Upper Main. Wonderful. And a beautiful little space where I hung my shingle and, and yeah, it's been, it's been almost four years now. Wow. So can you, there's patient client confidentiality, but can you talk about any success stories that you've had or anything like that without going into names? Absolutely. So a large number of my clients come to see me because they have tried many different ways to lose weight. And they've done it through specific programs, whether it be Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or something like that, where they're kind of in this program for a certain amount of time. And then once they're done their program and they have success oftentimes during that time when they're in the program. And then when they're on their own, they immediately gain the weight back. So a lot of what I do with those clients is kind of deprogram them from like the Weight Watchers mentality, which, you know, in my opinion reduces everything to a number or a point. And to try to, you know, get a helpful look at food again and not to see food as good or bad, rather, you know, it's our thoughts and how we think about the food that is the good or bad. And just kind of introducing that concept has been able to shift many of my clients' perception about eating and, and their bodies as well. So any specific individuals that have struggled and are now maintaining a healthy body weight that you can talk about? Oh, yeah. I would say, you know, my goal is to have people come in for however long. It's usually not a long amount of time. Everybody's different. So I can't say, you know, six weeks or 12 weeks. But my goal is for them to see me and then not have to come back. This is not traditional therapy where it can go on for years. Because what you were talking about with the Jenny Craig and the Weight Watchers and all of that, it sounds like they do that for a certain period of time and then they don't have that structure and then they no longer follow that. So how is it different with what you're doing? Because you're not, you're not continuing to see them. Right. A lot of people go into therapy and they'll be there forever. Right. So we dive into, you know, how somebody eats and how someone views food. And since everybody's struggle is different and unique to them, everything that I hear is different. So how we work together, there's not one universal thing, which is why I believe it works so well. Okay. Like say if somebody started binge eating at the age of eight, you know, we would kind of talk about what was going on in your life during that time and help them to see their patterns around food and see how that plays into how they're doing that today. And it's been really awesome to see kind of somebody make the connections between, oh yeah, this is when, you know, I had this type of negative experience and I can see how I was using food to calm myself or using food to punish myself. Really? Oh yeah, yeah. Why? It's such fascinating, it's fascinating work how we, because food is so accessible. Right. You know, it's not like, you know, it helps us immediately change the way we feel. Right. So instead of grabbing a drug or alcohol or, you know, gambling or something like that, food is widely accessible, it's acceptable, especially if you're young, you know. And, you know, like something like sugar, which is really powerful and can, it works and lights up the same areas of our brain as, you know, cocaine. Then people often gravitate towards sugar because boom it immediately, you know, gives you that high, it releases those same feel good chemicals in your brain so that habit can be formed at such a young age. But why punishing yourself? What's that all about? Depending on what people experience in their lives, people can't often voice like maybe a trauma that has occurred to them. And so they feel a lot of shame when it comes to, you know, just after the trauma has occurred and how to deal with that. And so, and they may feel that they're a bad person because they can control what happened to them. So oftentimes people can, you know, use food as a way to kind of abuse themselves. Like they know that they shouldn't be eating that much or, you know, this food when I eat this much of it makes me feel bad. And it ends up being, could be a protection, you know, from like weight gain or something can often be like a protective layer. You know, if I have this weight on me, then maybe someone won't find me as attractive or they won't come near me again, that type of thing. Wow. Yeah, I hear shame as a thread through a lot of stories. But I've never thought of it as using food to abuse oneself. I love sugar. Right? I know. Yeah. It's a treat. But wow, that's a whole new light. Thank you for bringing that up. Yeah. So do people come back for tune-ups or is it, yeah? Yeah, sometimes. Absolutely. You know, this type of work requires a lot of, you know, if we're really working a lot of times on changing somebody's thinking. And, you know, we'll work intensively around that in the beginning during our time together. And, you know, like anything, sometimes we kind of fall off of the path. And so, yes, people come in for tune-ups or they say, you know, I'm feeling really good and I want to concentrate on this piece right now. So we may kind of go into a different direction at that point. Got it. For me, I find that I know something is doing really good for me and I'll be doing it and it makes everything feel really great. And then I just stop doing it because why? Is that human nature? I mean, it's crazy. But, yeah, so that's why I was wondering about the tune-ups. Do people need to come back or? Oftentimes. Yeah, I mean, it's, I don't have a percentage, but yeah, they'll come in and usually like it's a one-time thing or maybe we'll do like, you know, once every other month for a few months. Do you find most of your clients being Montpelier-based or is it extending outwards? It is extended outwards. I would say most of my clients are in Vermont or within like a hundred mile radius. And as I said before, I also do coaching through Skype and over the phone. So I do have a few international clients and other clients who are in other states. How did you find them or how did they find you? Through a lot of the groups that I'm in, like through the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, like Facebook groups, we share contact information. I have a website and I'm currently rebranding so I'm no longer body love now. I'm Melissa Story Coaching. Okay. So my website is almost done and so that should be done in a couple of weeks. And will the focus be there as the rebranding is shifting? Is it because you're doing something different or? I also, so I coach people around, you know, nutrition and food, weight loss, body image issues. And I also do help people with fitness goals. So that's one piece. I also work with people who want to develop a spiritual practice. And also I work with people who are in recovery from addiction. Wow. So talk about those last two, the spiritual and the recovery. How is that people who want to recover or are already in recovery and want to grow more spiritually? Either way. So people who are in recovery, those people who are my clients, I want to stay sober. So we work on any, you know, it's highly anonymous work, confidential work. But our focus is to find the best pathways for them to stay sober. And then the spiritual piece is just for, you know, people who are developing a spiritual practice, they're not sure what, you know, way they want to go. They have a curiosity about growing spiritually. And since that's something that I have always kind of been in touch with throughout my life and currently, you know, something that I just absolutely love and has helped me so much in my life. I have a lot of knowledge around, you know, different places where somebody could go to kind of get that spiritual piece at it. I mean, it doesn't have to be a church. It could be, you know, nature or a Buddhist retreat or, you know, whatever fits into that person's longing. So for somebody who doesn't know, like, where to begin, what would you suggest? A lot of times I'll ask them, like, what really lights them up, you know, like, what do you just love to do? And oftentimes, like, it's immediate. You can see somebody's, you know, just inner being, just like, this is it when they're talking about something that lights them up. And usually from there, we can, you know, I can suggest either, you know, a place for them to go or there may be a group of like-minded people. Like, if it's somebody who's just like, you know, I just love to be in the outdoors, then, you know, we could talk about, you know, many different ways for them to get into nature and how to, you know, make that a, you know, unapologetic thing that they do get out in nature every day. And then when they're in nature, like, what, you know, what do you feel? How do you feel when you're in that element? And then, you know, really teaching them how to kind of get quiet and to listen. Meditation is a huge piece of some, you know, of my own personal practice. But I think for anyone who's open to a new kind of spirituality, it's that listening piece. That, you know, what is it that lights me up? What is it? Where is my calling coming from? What is it calling to do and calling me to do? And we won't know that unless we get quiet. And, you know, getting quiet and slowing down and meditating, whether it's meditation, you know, sitting or walking. But unless we listen, we're not going to get, like, the download that we need, which I find is so important. And in our culture, we just, it's not supported, you know, the more busy you are than the, you know, sexier you are and more important you are, you know. That's kind of how we, you know, uplift people in our culture. And I find that a lot of those people are really unhappy. And, you know, if they can get quiet and listen, you know, is this really the life that I want to live? And am I feeling fed? Then, you know, I think that's just something really important to tap into. Great. Yeah, I know one of the things I experienced was when I was living in the city, it was something that I did religiously. Morning, night, meditation was a big part of my day. And when I moved to Vermont, where I'm surrounded by so much serenity, initially I wasn't doing it as much. I just thought being in it would do it. And I was wrong. I needed to really make that a practice, a real rigorous practice. Something that I do morning and night. During the day, it's vital. Yeah, I find that when I don't do it, I just get into that, like, that mode of, you know, the multitasking and I have to just get things done. I have blinders on and everybody just move away because I'm like on a tear, you know. And that's not a fun way to live. You know, my family's like, please meditate, you know, or slow down. Yeah, my husband and I talk about unit tasking, you know, like none of this multitasking. Like, just try to do one thing at a time. Yeah. And it's hard. I'll bet you're passing it on to your children well, though. It's a constant reminder through, you know, trying to walk the talk. You know, given we have teenagers, my eight-year-old meditates. My teens, it's, you know, we talk about it. There's not a daily practice there yet. But yeah, I never try to judge anybody's path. I feel like, you know, I just want to provide encouragement and they've seen me shift big time since I started a real spiritual practice. So I think that seed has been planted within them, I hope. I'm sure it has. Now you also talked about fitness. You do a lot with fitness in this community. Tell me about that. Fitness has always been a passion of mine. I feel like it just kind of keeps me like this. And I've abused exercise in the past. What's that like? Like really exercising because, like over-exercising. And for me, you know, having gone through like a major eating disorder, which is another reason why I'm drawn to the work that I do. I've just had that life experience. Oftentimes the over-exercising comes in to that as a way to either, you know, distract myself from the negative thoughts that I'm thinking or as a way of punishing myself for eating. Yeah, so while I've always loved exercise, you know, you can overdo it for sure. And so I've found a really good balance for myself. But in the community, I teach indoor cycling at Studio Zenith, which is really fun. It's very non-threatening. You just ride a bike indoors, which sounds really bizarre. But they're a fan, so like you still get the wind through your hair. And we crank loud music and it's, you know, all levels. People come in and just ride where they're comfortable. And I just kind of guide people through. And when do you have classes at Zenith? At Studio Zenith, yeah. Tuesdays at noon and Sundays at 9 a.m. Okay. And then I also teach booty yoga. What's booty yoga? It's B-U-T-I. Okay. And it is a combination of power yoga, plyometrics, and tribal dance. Yeah, I know power yoga, but I don't know plyo. Plyometrics and tribal dance. Tell me more. So we'll go from, it's kind of like high-intensity interval training where we will go from doing something that's really cardio heavy like maybe mountain climbers or high knee lifts, you know, jumping on your yoga mat to like getting into plank and taking, you know, some like a side plank there, which is a yoga move or going into down dog. And then from there it could be, you know, jumping forward to your mat and like drumming on the ground and start, you know, moving to like a tribal dance beat. Every class is totally different because it's not choreographed. It comes from the instructor's heart. Okay. And there's a big piece of, like the focus in the class is using your core. And we do a lot of, it's called the spiral technique, which is kind of using your core to make these circular movements, which unleashes this blocked and locked energy in your spine and helps to balance these energy centers along the spine, which are called, which is like your chakra system. Sounds like Kundalini yoga. Yeah, it's really, it involves a lot of that piece. And so when that happens, like people have these like releases and like people will get teary and they'll get really joyful and like we like hoot and holler and there's loud music again. I sense a theme. Yeah. And it's just really empowering to see kind of people really feeling comfortable in their bodies, feeling embodied, you know, like they're claiming who they are during that hour. And I grew up dancing and this practice really calls to me. I just am so in love with it. I'm new to it. And so me and my students were all kind of learning together and growing together, but it also makes you like really strong. That's awesome. Where did you learn about this in the first place? I have not heard of it. Yeah, I know. It's going to blow up, I feel. It's kind of like on the edge, but it was brought here to Vermont a few years ago, but I didn't hear about it until my instructor Marissa Green came to Studio Zenith. And the first class I was just like, I have to do this forever. That's awesome. Yeah, it's just, it's really great. Well, keep on doing all that you're doing to help our community have so much more of a sense of wellness in their beings. I really appreciate your coming in today. And your new website is, do you have the URL? Yes, yes, MelissaStoryCoaching.com. MelissaStoryCoaching.com. Okay, thank you. Thank you Jackie. And thank you viewers for joining us today for another episode of You and Your Health. We look forward to sharing with you more in the near future and in the meantime. Namaste.