I’m back with Nicole Powers for the third installment of her incredible health transformation journey. Nicole has been committed to changing her family’s health, and we’ve been documenting her progress along the way. 

In this episode, she shares an honest update about her experience with sugar withdrawal, how her body has been adjusting to a new, healthy lifestyle, and the mindset shifts she’s making to fight self-sabotage. You’ll hear about her struggles with lethargy and how she’s learning to make healthier decisions, both for herself and her family. 

Nicole’s journey isn’t just about weight loss. It’s about finding balance, managing triggers, and building resilience. If you’ve ever been frustrated by your own attempts at health transformation, this series will show you how to make lasting changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

Transformation is never easy, but it’s always worth it. Nicole’s story is a testament to how dedication, awareness, and a shift in mindset can lead to real, lasting change. You can make the same choice to rise and take control of your health today!

 

In This Episode:

00:00 Introduction 

04:02 Nicole’s struggle with sugar withdrawal

09:47 Dietary changes and their impact on food noise

14:22 Physical changes and family involvement

16:55 Teaching kids to make healthy food choices

23:02 Understanding and overcoming self-sabotage

26:15 Self-care vs. self-comfort

 

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Other Related Episodes: 

Looking for more tips to optimize your health? Listen to these episodes:

• How One Mom’s Decision is Redefining Her Family’s Health Legacy (The Powers Family Series Part 1)
 
• Simple Habits That Are Reversing Chronic Illness (The Powers Family Series Part 2)

 

Transcript: 

[00:00:00] Nicole Powers: And I think once that knowledge came, I was like, okay, we're gonna do this. It just surprised me. I said, wow, I wasn't gonna let sugar win. I mean, I have a bad relationship with sugar, and I can't afford to eat inflammatory foods. That's why I said, oh my goodness. I've been harming myself, self-sabotaging for a long, long time.

[00:00:20] Nicole Powers: So I understand now how I was diagnosed with diabetes. I can understand because I've been neglecting myself, neglecting my body. 

[00:00:29] Carrie Lupoli: So if you are new to this podcast series, the one where I have been following Nicole Powers, a woman who has decided to commit to her health, to her family's health, well then you are in for a treat with this episode.

[00:00:45] Carrie Lupoli: This is the third one in the series that we're doing, and so if you haven't listened to the previous ones, don't worry. This one's still gonna be incredible, but definitely go back and listen to the first two. The thing is, even though you are getting this. Front row seat [00:01:00] in real time to a person who is going from disease to complete empowerment.

[00:01:06] Carrie Lupoli: She wasn't completely honest with me during the last episode, and she admitted that to me today. So I'm excited to be able to share with you what she shared with me, that she hadn't been completely truthful with me or with herself. And what's incredible is that that level of awareness is exactly what transformation actually looks like.

[00:01:30] Carrie Lupoli: This is why a simple meal plan and diet is never going to get you where you need to go. Nicole, in this episode, opens up about what she was really feeling. How much has changed since we began this journey? And some other surprising things that people are starting to notice in her too. It's incredible that when you're finally aligned with where you want to go, people start to notice.

[00:01:54] Carrie Lupoli: So whether you've been following along or whether you're joining us for the very first time, you're going to hear a [00:02:00] woman choosing to rise in real time. Let's dive in.

[00:02:07] Carrie Lupoli: Well, we are back for our third episode with Nicole Powers, who has volunteered to allow us some insight into her decision to change her family tree to get healthy to actually. Learn how to become the healthiest version of ourself. We've never done this before. I've had clients, I mean so many clients over the years that have been guests on my podcast that have talked about the changes, they've talked about the transformations.

[00:02:34] Carrie Lupoli: They've talked about their new identity in who they are as a healthy person, but we've never had anybody actually allow us to. With them and record their experiences as they're doing it. So just as a reminder, if you haven't tuned into the last few episodes with Nicole, she came to us. Broken at literal death's door and hopeless with three kids, a single mom.[00:03:00] 

[00:03:00] Carrie Lupoli: She was worried for her life, but not only that, she knew that her kids were gonna end up going down that same road as her because all she could do was teach them what she knew. And as a diabetic, as, uh, somebody that was literally diagnosed with like. All the things. I mean, if you just go down the checklist, right, Nicole, right?

[00:03:23] Carrie Lupoli: You have all the things going on on top of epilepsy, so therefore she isn't able to work. This was the time, it was like the time that she drew her line in the sand and said, this is it. I have to do this. And she was, we didn't know the results. We didn't know what was gonna happen. We just said, will you let us into your life and allow us to see.

[00:03:43] Carrie Lupoli: Your experience, how you're doing this with your kids, what is actually happening? So this is our third episode in the series. And so Nicole, you are about, uh, I don't know, six weeks or so into your transformation right now. Am I right? Yeah. 

[00:03:59] Nicole Powers: Week five. [00:04:00] Yes. Yes, ma'am. 

[00:04:01] Carrie Lupoli: Yeah. Okay. All right. So as we kind of unpack the last time we talked, I think you undersold how you were really feeling.

[00:04:13] Carrie Lupoli: You were not feeling great at all. You are like one of the strongest women I know, and you were like, I'm not feeling great. But you were still really positive. I know how grateful you are for this journey, but you weren't feeling good. Tell us the truth about how you were really feeling. 

[00:04:30] Nicole Powers: I felt horrible, but I didn't know what was happening to me.

[00:04:34] Nicole Powers: I knew my body was doing something, but I didn't know what it was, but I felt horrible. I was in a haze, a fog. I was sleepy, I was weak. Um, I wasn't motivated. I felt like I could lay down in bed and sleep for 24 hours. 

[00:04:50] Carrie Lupoli: How long did that last for you? 

[00:04:53] Nicole Powers: It lasted probably about. I would say a good three days. I [00:05:00] felt like it came on pretty sudden.

[00:05:02] Nicole Powers: Um, I learned that it was sugar withdrawal and the way I learned that is because I had tested my sugar. My sugar was normal. It was 1 26, so. I learned that it was actually, 

[00:05:14] Carrie Lupoli: Which is amazing because you, you've gone off of the Ozempic and your sugar, you're eating all day long. Yes. And your sugars are completely normal.

[00:05:23] Nicole Powers: My 

[00:05:24] Carrie Lupoli: sugars are normal, which is awesome. Okay. Yes. 

[00:05:26] Nicole Powers: Um, but during Thanksgiving, I wasn't hungry. I came to the family to have dinner. Um, and I had some meat. Um, but I did have a little bit of candied yams. Which is sweet potato. We were able to reintegrate foods. That was part of our, you know, lesson, and I didn't eat a lot, but I noticed after I ate it, maybe like that day after, I started to feel a little bit better, and then I said, well, I'll try the next day.

[00:05:48] Nicole Powers: Then I started to feel a little bit better, and then it dawned on me. Oh, you were having sugar withdrawals, like a real addict. So I don't smoke, I don't drink. And then it just, it just [00:06:00] surprised me. I said, wow. And I think once that knowledge came, I was like, okay, we're, we're gonna do this. Let's stop, let's, let's go back to, you know, the first 28 days.

[00:06:11] Nicole Powers: Let's, we're not gonna do the sweet potato. Let's just go back to simple. Your meat, your protein tray. 

[00:06:17] Carrie Lupoli: Yeah, and I think this is what's so interesting about what was happening to you is that if you think about what your lifestyle is like now, what you're choosing to fuel your body with versus what you were doing before.

[00:06:30] Carrie Lupoli: Right. Which is so interesting because I remember you were saying when you were looking at the list of like inflammatory foods, like the amount of learning you've been doing over these last five plus weeks has been really incredible. And you were like, when you looked at the list of inflammatory foods that we were trying to kind of.

[00:06:45] Carrie Lupoli: Eliminate for the first month or so to try to just really get your body back to what I like to say, it's factory settings. 

[00:06:52] Nicole Powers: Right. 

[00:06:52] Carrie Lupoli: You were like, I've been eating everything on this list. 

[00:06:56] Nicole Powers: True. That's true. Right, right. 

[00:06:58] Carrie Lupoli: And being [00:07:00] diagnosed diabetic and really having, I mean, symptoms and I mean, we could just keep going on the diagnoses, but the diabetes is the first.

[00:07:10] Carrie Lupoli: Piece of the puzzle in terms of recognizing how much your body has had to try to deal with the blood sugar rollercoaster you've been on for your entire life. And I mean, you're, you're relatively young. 

[00:07:26] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:07:26] Carrie Lupoli: To have the amount of disease and the level of diabetes that you have 

[00:07:32] Yes. 

[00:07:32] Carrie Lupoli: Means that it's just been a long time.

[00:07:35] Carrie Lupoli: So now, and this is what's so interesting. You're starting to eat clean, whole health, unprocessed foods, balancing your blood sugar. You're eating carbohydrates, but really I've been focusing more on fruits and vegetables along with your proteins and your fats. Right? And your body was like, whoa, woman. Whoa.

[00:07:54] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:07:54] Carrie Lupoli: And I really applaud you for saying I'm gonna keep moving forward with this because some people will be like. [00:08:00] Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Yeah, I'm like hurting myself and I'm like, let's be real honest with you. With yourself. I had a very close family member go through actual, um, detox from an addiction and while she was healthier by not using the drugs, her body re.

[00:08:18] Carrie Lupoli: Repulsed connected 

[00:08:20] Nicole Powers: probably. 

[00:08:20] Carrie Lupoli: It was like fighting back. Yeah, because it was so used to this, this intake of drugs and that's what your body was doing and it was really interesting for you to have about three days of it and then get yourself back in. And now how are you feeling? 

[00:08:35] Nicole Powers: I feel much better. I feel much better and I'm glad that I know what was going on.

[00:08:42] Nicole Powers: 'cause I think once I learned what it was, it just shifted everything for me. And I said, I'm fighting. I'm fighting back. It's plain and simple. I wasn't gonna let sugar win. I mean, I have a bad relationship with sugar and I can't afford to eat inflammatory foods. That's why I said, oh my goodness, I've been [00:09:00] harming myself, self-sabotaging for a long.

[00:09:03] Nicole Powers: Probably all my life for a long, long time. So I understand now how I was diagnosed with diabetes. I can understand because, you know, I've been not neglecting myself, neglecting my body, 

[00:09:17] Carrie Lupoli: and can you see how. Even with the medication that you were on, how, because you weren't changing any of your lifestyle, there was no way you were actually going to turn that around.

[00:09:28] Carrie Lupoli: You were just gonna slow down the, the drip. Right. 

[00:09:31] Nicole Powers: Exactly. It's like hitting a brick wall. I'm taking the medication, but at the same time, I'm not doing any changes with my diet or anything like that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would walk a little bit and stuff like that, but it, it wasn't helping it, it wasn't helping.

[00:09:46] Nicole Powers: Dad was. 

[00:09:48] Carrie Lupoli: So you have been eating and balancing your blood sugar through food, through the method of PFC three, eating a protein, fat and carb every three hours based on hunger. Really functioning on not [00:10:00] being too hungry and not being too full, kind of eating until satisfied and having that level of satisfaction.

[00:10:07] Carrie Lupoli: This is one of the things that I wanna ask you, because when you first started you were saying like you would go like almost all day Yeah. Without eating. Yeah. And then like really binge that night, 

[00:10:16] Nicole Powers: right? 

[00:10:16] Carrie Lupoli: Yeah. Have, have you been feeling that level of satisfaction and is that foreign to you? 

[00:10:24] Nicole Powers: What do you mean born?

[00:10:25] Nicole Powers: Like not being hungry or eating every three hours? 

[00:10:29] Carrie Lupoli: This feeling. So I hear a lot of times when women will say to me like, I, I, I don't eat at all until I'm really, really, really hungry. And then I overeat and then I'm over full. So we have this, we get used to this feeling of being super hungry or super full.

[00:10:47] Carrie Lupoli: And you, as we've been working together, I you. Haven't been. Really, really hungry or, or really, really full. Right. And that might feel like [00:11:00] feeling satisfied might feel new to you. Right. And that's what I wonder is, that's why I'm saying is it foreign? Is it weird to feel like that, that satisfaction all day without feeling that level of hunger and that level of fullness.

[00:11:12] Nicole Powers: It's not, and the only reason why I would say it's not is because I've had, I've tried diet pills before. So diet pills. Diet pills give you that false reality, you know, that false perception of not wanting to eat, you know? So it feels, it feels, I feel satisfied. I don't feel full, I don't feel hungry. And uh, I've recently just started saying, Hey, it's time for me to eat.

[00:11:36] Nicole Powers: I don't have to use my meal reminder. 'cause my stomach could grumble a little bit. I'm like, oh. Must be three hours, four hours. It's time for me to eat. So now, you know, 

[00:11:45] Carrie Lupoli: we talked about that last time. Yeah, we did. I said that that's gonna start to happen. 

[00:11:49] Nicole Powers: We did. And because I'm giving my body what it needs, I'm not craving sugar.

[00:11:54] Nicole Powers: So that's another reason why when I was going through withdrawal like that, I didn't understand it. It's [00:12:00] like I don't, I'm not. Craving sugar. I didn't know that. My body was saying, you know, I, this is what I want. But remember, I don't know if you remember, but I told you I was dreaming it. I was going to bed and I was waking up and I was dreaming that I was eating pancakes and hash browns and yeah, I was having these dreams.

[00:12:16] Nicole Powers: But yeah, I felt it. I felt that carried. I was crazy to me just because I'm a, yeah, 

[00:12:22] Carrie Lupoli: it's super interesting. 

[00:12:24] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:12:25] Carrie Lupoli: I, I love being able to walk, walk through this with you, but that's what I have talked about for so long. One of the things that I hear all the time around people that are on Ozempic, wegovy or any of those weight loss drugs, is that they say that the food noise goes away.

[00:12:38] Carrie Lupoli: That they're finally not feeling like they're always hungry or looking for something, but it's because it suppresses appetite. 

[00:12:44] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:12:45] Carrie Lupoli: But what you are doing naturally by fueling your body, you're getting that same result, but in a health. Yeah. Way. Does that feel great? Is that empowering? 

[00:12:55] Nicole Powers: Yeah, it does. It does.

[00:12:56] Nicole Powers: It feels great. It feels normal. It feels like I'm [00:13:00] doing something healthy the right way. Like I'm not cheating, I'm not taking diet pills. I'm not trying to do a quick fix. Like I'm learning now how to live healthy and I'm, I'm, and you can't 

[00:13:10] Carrie Lupoli: un unknow this stuff, 

[00:13:12] Nicole Powers: right? Like 

[00:13:12] Carrie Lupoli: you can't unlearn it. 

[00:13:15] Nicole Powers: It's so 

[00:13:15] Carrie Lupoli: exciting.

[00:13:16] Carrie Lupoli: So if you've been around for a while, you know I'm obsessed with ingredients that actually work with your body instead of against it. And one of the things that I am really obsessed with is elderberry. Elderberry has actually been used for generations. It supports immunity and the thing is. Not all elderberry products are created equal.

[00:13:35] Carrie Lupoli: That's why I only get my elderberry from Amelia at all things elderberry. They make everything in small batches. She's a mom. She cares about real clean ingredients, staying away from all the artificial fillers and sugars, and my kids actually take it to college with them when they run out. They're like, mom, I need more elderberry.

[00:13:55] Carrie Lupoli: They never get sick. And if they get a little bit of a cold. It's like they make sure they [00:14:00] just, you know, really double down on their elderberry and they heal almost right away. It is amazing. They taste amazing. They're crafted with integrity, and they are a staple in our house. So if you wanna try it, you can get 15% off your first order.

[00:14:17] Carrie Lupoli: We will drop the link below. Use the code Carrie lip pulley at checkout for all things elderberry. You've mentioned to me before we came on that people have been noticing changes in your body. Yeah. And so I, I love that because I know that that's one of the things that we're always looking for, right?

[00:14:33] Carrie Lupoli: How can I lose the weight that has been kind of holding me back, but I will always say, until your body actually gets healthy and starts to trust you. It's not going to release weight in a healthy way because it's holding onto it to protect you. Right. But you are starting to see actual physical changes.

[00:14:50] Carrie Lupoli: Yeah. People are noticing. Tell us about that. 

[00:14:52] Nicole Powers: My tummy is my area of concern the most. I've always been very, very insecure, uh, with my stomach. [00:15:00] So I haven't noticed a big difference, but my mother and everybody around me and they're like, wow, I can definitely see a difference because. Uh, maybe because just the self-sabotage I had been doing with my eating.

[00:15:12] Nicole Powers: It could have been my liver, my tummy has always been a swollen, I've had a swollen tummy similar to like pregnancy. Um, so it would sit kind of high and tight. So now it's actually beginning to drop. It's beginning to drop lower and then I'm beginning to come in this way, so I could definitely see a difference.

[00:15:31] Nicole Powers: Yeah, and a lot of people are noticing it. My mom said, oh, you're busting that gut. And she told me, she said, I know you're doing it the right way. She said, because it's coming off slowly. It's not something that you're rushing to do or you're not. She, then she said, just keep up the good work, so. Yeah. She, she will.

[00:15:47] Nicole Powers: It's 

[00:15:47] Carrie Lupoli: consistency over time. Yeah. 

[00:15:50] Nicole Powers: 1% better every day. Yeah. And keep that at the first one of 

[00:15:54] Carrie Lupoli: my every single day. 

[00:15:55] Nicole Powers: Yes. 

[00:15:56] Carrie Lupoli: You know, as, as a mom, you know this story, right? [00:16:00] Because when you have a kid and you're with him every day, right? And you take pictures of him and stuff like that. Then like at the end of the school year, for example, you go back and look at maybe their first day of school picture and you're like, wow, they were so little back then.

[00:16:13] Carrie Lupoli: And you don't realize all the changes that they've gone through over the year because you see them every day. This is what I see with women. We don't always see all the changes, especially 'cause we say. Like, I don't want you to have a scale. I want you to start to become intuitive and relational and understanding your own body.

[00:16:29] Carrie Lupoli: Appreciate your body. Be grateful for your body. Don't let a number define you. And so that means you have to be really connected with your body. And when you see it every single day, you are not gonna necessarily notice all those changes. But when someone doesn't see you quite as often as you see you, they will start to recognize some of those physical changes that might be harder for you to see.

[00:16:50] Nicole Powers: Yeah. Yeah. And they are my sister notices too. 

[00:16:55] Carrie Lupoli: That's so great. Alright, so speaking of the kids, yes. Uh, I [00:17:00] love that you've got your kids involved and the last time we were connected and I've been getting a few videos from your kids and I love being able to see them interacting. Tell us how they're doing, what you've been doing as you've been learning.

[00:17:14] Carrie Lupoli: Because the idea was not that, it was like the kids are learning exactly the way you are and implementing in all of the same ways, but you are a model. You are a mentor, you are a coach. You're teaching them as you are learning. So tell us how that's been going. 

[00:17:29] Nicole Powers: Oh, they're so excited now. Um, my son, he started.

[00:17:33] Nicole Powers: From the jump with making the protein shakes and making his, your oldest 

[00:17:37] Carrie Lupoli: one, right? 

[00:17:38] Nicole Powers: Yeah, my oldest making his siblings protein shakes. Now with my daughter, um, she's more excited because I got her a lunchbox for school because she was not eating. So now she's like, okay, mom, we just had taco bowls. And she's like, can I take a taco bowl?

[00:17:54] Nicole Powers: Can I take that? And I'm like, sure, let's go. Let's do it. So she's super excited about [00:18:00] that. And, um, my youngest 

[00:18:02] Carrie Lupoli: and. Sorry, I, I don't mean to interrupt, but I just wanna say that you've done this so well and I want moms to hear this. This is not about a set of rules a kid needs to learn. It is a way of thinking about food and their bodies, and you're slowly integrating that, allowing them to make their own choices.

[00:18:20] Carrie Lupoli: 'cause your daughter. She doesn't eat lunch in the middle of the day. She doesn't like the school food. She doesn't feel comfortable eating lunch, but as she's been learning, she made the decision to take lunch to school and what she was going to take, and I love that you didn't force that on her, but as a mentor, as an educator, she's making her own decisions based on your, your influence and mentorship.

[00:18:44] Carrie Lupoli: That's kudos to you, Nicole. That's amazing. 

[00:18:46] Nicole Powers: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, she is. So she's excited about it. Um, you know, she was pretty, she was there in the beginning too, with the shakes. It's just that she wasn't 

[00:18:55] Carrie Lupoli: Yeah. 

[00:18:56] Nicole Powers: Eating at school. But now, yeah, she's making her lunch and she's [00:19:00] happy and excited about it and thinking about the next thing she can make for lunch the next day.

[00:19:04] Nicole Powers: So, yeah. 

[00:19:06] Carrie Lupoli: This is so much progress. Okay. What about your little one? 

[00:19:09] Nicole Powers: My little one. He's hungry all the time. Mom. I'm hungry. I'm hungry. So we're just trying with him. I'm just, you know, I'm, I'm teaching him, I'm letting him again, you know, at the little tomatoes and, you know, make his bowl too, but I don't know if he wants to eat out.

[00:19:26] Nicole Powers: Boredom, uh, because he's growing or just because he, you know, he's hungry, so he, he just, he kind of just eats what we eat dinner. So, um, 

[00:19:36] Carrie Lupoli: yeah. 

[00:19:36] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:19:37] Carrie Lupoli: Well, it would be interesting to see, especially for kids who may have had a, um, tendency to eat out of boredom or to snack out of, you know, just sort of like. A lifestyle.

[00:19:48] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:19:49] Carrie Lupoli: To kind of see how he is when he is occupied. Like maybe when he is with friends or he is hanging out or doing something he really wants to do versus when he is home, kind of not doing anything. And if he has that same [00:20:00] level of hunger, we know it's true hunger. If he's reaching out and he is hungry on certain.

[00:20:06] Carrie Lupoli: During certain types of lifestyle days, then it may be more about emotional eating. So it's just a way for you to kind of gauge that a little bit. 

[00:20:15] Nicole Powers: Gotcha. And you know what, when he's active and out skating or something like that, he doesn't ask to eat. It is normally when he's at home, you know, maybe TV lounging, watching TV or something like that, that he wants to.

[00:20:28] Nicole Powers: And he actually, I'm noticing too with him, Carey, that he has a bad relationship with sugar too. Um, and I don't think it's that we fed it to him like that. I'm looking at it as is this something hereditary that I had may have passed down? Does he have that same, um, horrible spirit that I had because my other two kids, they don't have it.

[00:20:50] Nicole Powers: Like he, like he does, but he's. Wild about sweets. He's just sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweetss. 

[00:20:56] Carrie Lupoli: It is very, I mean, when you think about processed foods, [00:21:00] it is made to be extremely, extremely addictive. And while you have three kids that are growing up in the same house, they're each growing up in a different home.

[00:21:11] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:21:12] Carrie Lupoli: I want you to think about that a little bit, right? You're 18 years old. When, 18 years ago, or let's talk 11 years ago when he was an only child. Right? Or you know, uh, 

[00:21:22] Nicole Powers: yeah. 

[00:21:22] Carrie Lupoli: Like he was when he was seven. The same age right now as your youngest, life looked very different for all of you. Right. Then you have a second child and life gets a little bit harder.

[00:21:34] Carrie Lupoli: A little bit more chaotic. 

[00:21:35] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:21:35] Carrie Lupoli: Then you have a third child and sometimes we let things go a little bit more. Sometimes we have to do a variety of things to be able to make up for the lack of time. 

[00:21:44] Nicole Powers: Pardon. 

[00:21:44] Carrie Lupoli: And it could very well be that you have three different kids that grew up in different homes. 

[00:21:49] Nicole Powers: Yeah.

[00:21:49] Carrie Lupoli: Simply because of the time in your life that, that they were being raised. And what I will say that food, even 18 years ago. Had [00:22:00] different ingredients than the same food. Now, Mac and cheese in the box was different when your son was little than when your youngest son is Little. Wow. 'Cause we continue to overprocess food.

[00:22:12] Carrie Lupoli: So I would say that one of the pieces that I do when we're educating kids is to say, if you feel hungry, you should eat. And we wanna make sure you're balancing. Your meal. So where's your protein? Where's your fat? Where's your carb? You have the PFC cards now, right? 

[00:22:29] Nicole Powers: Yeah. So you, 

[00:22:31] Carrie Lupoli: I would encourage you to say to him, okay, use the cards, pick a meal.

[00:22:35] Carrie Lupoli: And then he actually has to engage in decision-making, and then he will be able to determine is it really hunger or is it boredom? 

[00:22:45] Nicole Powers: Gotcha. 

[00:22:46] Carrie Lupoli: So, 

[00:22:46] Nicole Powers: gotcha. 

[00:22:47] Carrie Lupoli: That can be quite, and, and you can just pull out the cards that you have the ingredients for. 

[00:22:52] Nicole Powers: Right. 

[00:22:52] Carrie Lupoli: So that. He can shoot from these and you know you have all of these in the house, right?

[00:22:57] Carrie Lupoli: We did 

[00:22:57] Nicole Powers: that when we did the 

[00:22:58] Carrie Lupoli: top. [00:23:00] That's great. I love that. I love that. We do. So, uh, how are, let's just dig into a little bit about how you are feeling when it comes to what you're recognizing with your mindset. You had mentioned to me that you just did the lesson on self-sabotage and it really hit home.

[00:23:17] Carrie Lupoli: Tell us a little bit about how you're realizing self-sabotage has shown up in your life. 

[00:23:22] Nicole Powers: That's what I love about this program. 'cause it's, um, I, I learned that mindset and behavior go the go together and it affects how I, you know, see food and how I, you know, receive what I'm supposed to be doing. Like, my mindset says I don't, you know, I don't wanna get out of bed.

[00:23:38] Nicole Powers: I don't wanna go eat right now, just lay down, you know? And I, it's like I, I'm saying, I know I'm, I need to get up. This is our program, Nicole. Get up. Go make the protein shake, drink the protein shake, take the kids to school, come home. You don't have to lay down in a bed. But my mindset wants to do everything that I'm familiar with, what's comfortable, you know, [00:24:00] because.

[00:24:00] Nicole Powers: Naturally. I don't wanna wake up at five 30 and get my kids dressed and take them to school. Yeah. So, you know, when I drop 'em off, I That's because you're not 

[00:24:07] Carrie Lupoli: working, right? You're not working. So you don't have this level of accountability where you have to be at a job. Right, 

[00:24:13] Nicole Powers: exactly. So when I come in, I want to go back to sleep, but now it's like.

[00:24:18] Nicole Powers: No, you can't. But my mindset said the same. Just, just lay down this. You don't have to eat. You're not hungry, you know? And I'm learning that that's a form of self-sabotage. And so now I'm at the stage that I'm fighting that. So at first it was the sugar withdrawal. Now it's like, okay, let me get this thing.

[00:24:37] Nicole Powers: Let me get this thing again. This is the second, this is the next phase. I'm fighting that mindset and that the behavior, the bad behaviors where I would normally just lay down and go to sleep and not eat all day. And then I ate when my kids came home. But now it's like I have to be accountable for me now, you know?

[00:24:54] Nicole Powers: Yeah, 

[00:24:55] Carrie Lupoli: it's true. It really, yeah. 

[00:24:57] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:24:57] Carrie Lupoli: So the, the thing about self-sabotage, and I wrote it [00:25:00] all about this in my book that's coming out, is that it's actually a form of self-protection. It's, it, it, self-sabotage probably isn't even the right way to describe it. It's self-protection. Your body will go with what's familiar, what's easiest, what's simpler instead of.

[00:25:18] Carrie Lupoli: Really pushing past its comfort zone. 

[00:25:21] Nicole Powers: Wow. And 

[00:25:21] Carrie Lupoli: what you're doing right now is completely past its comfort zone. And so your body innately, unconsciously, does not wanna do anything that's new. It feels weird. It feels different. Think about it. It's like you had to suddenly move to, uh, a new city. Right, and you had to go to an, even just a new grocery store, it would feel weird.

[00:25:45] Carrie Lupoli: You'd be like, oh my gosh, I don't really know where I'm going. Think about like, I know if I am invited to a party and I'm excited about going to this party, then the day of the party comes and I'm like, I don't wanna go. 

[00:25:55] Nicole Powers: Right? 

[00:25:56] Carrie Lupoli: I don't wanna go because it's gonna be new people and new things. [00:26:00] And the brain innately doesn't like new.

[00:26:02] Carrie Lupoli: Right. So it's really just in an effort to protect you. And so here's what I want you to think about, and I love this as we do our podcast, that it could be a moment of a coaching opportunity as well that other people can learn from. There's a difference between self-care and self-comfort. So self-care moves you forward.

[00:26:24] Carrie Lupoli: So when you get up to go make your shake in the morning instead of sleeping, you are moving forward. Self-care is not selfish because when you move forward, your life and your influence moves forward as well. But self comfort. Exactly what you just said. It's comfortable, it's easy. It's just so simple and self-comfort might be scrolling on our phone, might be sleeping longer.

[00:26:59] Carrie Lupoli: The stuff that [00:27:00] doesn't exert that much energy or cognitive lift is self-comfort. Now, sometimes we all need that, but self-comfort doesn't move us forward. And so if we keep going after self-comfort instead of self-care, we are actually sabotaging our future. 

[00:27:18] Nicole Powers: Wow. 

[00:27:19] Carrie Lupoli: Wow. 

[00:27:19] Nicole Powers: So 

[00:27:20] Carrie Lupoli: I would reframe it to say. This is self-care as opposed to get up, make yourself a shake.

[00:27:28] Carrie Lupoli: This is how I care for myself and I love myself and self-care moves me forward. What do you 

[00:27:35] Nicole Powers: think about that? I love that. I love that. Yes. Yeah, I love it. 

[00:27:40] Carrie Lupoli: So we're gonna redo some reframing. 

[00:27:43] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:27:43] Carrie Lupoli: Each day when you don't feel like getting up and you can really work to say. Am I choosing self-care or self-comfort today?

[00:27:51] Nicole Powers: Right. 

[00:27:51] Carrie Lupoli: Self-comfort is actually selfish more often than not. Right, right. Like it's just like ignoring all the things that we have to do for [00:28:00] our body or for our lives, and just taking the time to zone out. It's fine. We should all be a little selfish sometimes, but if we choose that more often than self-care, then we will not move forward.

[00:28:12] Carrie Lupoli: We'll actually move backwards. 

[00:28:13] Nicole Powers: Wow. 

[00:28:14] Carrie Lupoli: We're always moving in a 1% direction. We're either 1% progression or a 1% regression. 

[00:28:21] Nicole Powers: Wow. 

[00:28:21] Carrie Lupoli: And you have bet on a 1% progression, even if you take two steps backwards. You are still taking steps forward every single day, and that's what self-care is all about. So I'm very proud of you and I love how you've been really building your self-awareness to recognize what's happening to you.

[00:28:42] Nicole Powers: Yeah. And I love how you explained that. Because you know, once you have a different way of thinking, you say okay, you know, it gives you something to kind of fight back with when it comes to my, your mind, how you think and your behavior. So yeah, I love that. Thank you. 

[00:28:57] Carrie Lupoli: Well, because Nicole, I could have showed you exactly how to eat.

[00:28:59] Carrie Lupoli: [00:29:00] PFC three told you how to do your body and movement and exercise, tell you how much water to drink, tell you to mitigate your stress, tell you to get better sleep. All of the things that we have been told over and over and over again. And there's a reason why we don't do it, because our mindsets. Our behavioral strategies, understanding why we do what we do.

[00:29:23] Carrie Lupoli: That's the stuff that really is, it matters when it comes to showing up full-time for ourselves. 

[00:29:30] Nicole Powers: Right, right. And now even when you talk about self-comfort. So self-comfort had me going regressing all these years, even when I was trying to. Quick fixes. I'm still going backward because I was relying on self comfort, you know, doing what I felt like wanted to do instead of self-care.

[00:29:48] Nicole Powers: So it's like, wow. Wow. That's crazy. Okay, 

[00:29:54] Carrie Lupoli: so I love that. So the next time we talk, we can actually just dig a little bit more and say, how has that been helping [00:30:00] you? Yeah. How has that been allowing you to actually show up for yourself in maybe even a more willing way? Because if you've been grinding to show up for yourself.

[00:30:08] Carrie Lupoli: You're not gonna do it forever. And you've got to do this forever. So we've gotta find a way to get you really invested in this. I know that you're afraid of dying, but also the short term comfort will often weigh out because the long-term consequence just feels far away. The nap right now doesn't feel like it's going to, you're really gonna have to deal with the long-term issues.

[00:30:33] Carrie Lupoli: You can always, you can always show back up in another hour, or you can just take a little nap right now. Right. Yeah. 

[00:30:39] Nicole Powers: Right. 

[00:30:39] Carrie Lupoli: And so that's what we end up telling ourselves instead of telling ourselves, am I moving forward and is what I'm doing allowing me to move forward? 

[00:30:47] Nicole Powers: Right. And I think too. I give myself so many excuses.

[00:30:52] Nicole Powers: You're a mom of three. You're tired. Take the nap. It's, it's like, take accountability. Okay. Get up and, and, [00:31:00] and, and have some self-care. 

[00:31:01] Carrie Lupoli: I love it. Well, we're gonna keep working on this. We're gonna keep getting updates from you. I love that. To be very honest with you, right? The food ends up being the easy part at the end of the day.

[00:31:11] Carrie Lupoli: Yeah. Yeah. Once you get into the rhythm. It's the actual, allowing a lifestyle to permeate your identity, that is typically the challenging part. So the next time we talk, we're really gonna dig more into that. I can't wait to see and hear more about your physical changes, but the kids are experiencing.

[00:31:30] Nicole Powers: Yeah. 

[00:31:30] Carrie Lupoli: So I'm so grateful that you're here sharing your experience with us, and we see you again next time. 

[00:31:37] Nicole Powers: Thank you so much.