Now, if you consider that it is possible. How does that feel? Hopeful? Because this is the work that I do with women and I guarantee you will lose weight or I will continue to work with you until you do. So, let me explain. The way that I guarantee results is that together, we identify all of the things that are standing in the way of you being at a healthy weight, all of the obstacles. 

We dedicate six months to finding all the obstacles and removing them. So even after our work, you can choose to lose as much weight as you want, because we removed all of the obstacles. There just isn’t a problem anymore. 

And so I guarantee that you will lose whatever amount we decide on, or I continue to work with you until you do lose that amount. And that just means that we haven’t found all the obstacles that are standing in your way. And so we work on doing that for the women who I’m working with, they usually have between 25 and 35 pounds as their goal to lose in the next six months.  Now, listen, if that’s intriguing to you, I want you to  go to weightlosswiththeholyspirit.com click on the banner on the top that says six month weight loss guarantee and you will have the opportunity to schedule a call with me. And during this call, I’ll understand a little bit more of your situation and you, and I will decide on what is a healthy amount and reasonable amount for you to lose in the next six months. 

Once we agree on that number, we get busy working. The majority of women that I’m working with choose between 25 to 35 pounds at safe and healthy for their bodies to lose. Now, as you start to lose, we will be removing all the obstacles so even if your ultimate goal is to lose more than that, it will be possible because all of the obstacles will be removed. 

And again, as a reminder, the guarantee is if you don’t lose that number that we agreed upon, it means there are more obstacles that we need to remove. And so we just keep working. I work with you until you do lose that amount. See, your brain wants to believe that you can’t lose weight.

Your brain wants to believe it’s just your body; this is your big bone. Your brain wants to believe that you don’t have willpower or that you hate exercise, or you can’t lose weight because you like to eat. And I want to tell you, none of that is true. The reason that you can’t lose weight and that you keep regaining it is that there are things standing in the way and preventing you from being at a healthy weight. And all it takes is for us to identify them and remove them. That’s all. 

So go to weightlosswiththeholyspirit.com click the six month guaranteed banner at the top you have until August 25th. After that the banner goes away. As well as this opportunity to get in now I have two slots open and I hope I get to see all my calendar. 

Now let’s hear how Dawn lost 20 pounds in eight weeks. 

Denise:
So welcome Dawn, I’m so happy to have you here.

Dawn:
Thank you very much, Denise. I’m excited to share and be here, thank you.  

Denise:
Yeah. So just to kick us off, tell us about your story with food and weight.

Dawn:
I remember from a very, I remember probably being six or seven years old and my mom dieting. I remember my mom always being on a diet. It started with those AIDS candies.

That’s one of the first things I remember. A Y D S. I remember how it was spelled even but I always remember that she was dieting and I always remember even as a young girl, somehow feeling or being told that I was big boned, that I was just a big girl I always had that body image or that impression that I was big, but I was just regular, like all the other kids, but I always grew up feeling like I was bigger.

Then  than everybody else, so I always saw my mom dieting and I always, you know, I got right into it, got right into the bandwagon of dieting. We were always rewarded with food. I remember always, being, you know, rewarded or having treats as food. There was always ice cream or candy or popcorn. One of was a big, was a big thing. 

And the other thing that I’ve reflected on is that we were always part of the clean your plate at all. Our plates always had to be clean. And I don’t remember ever learning about portions. It was just, eat, eat, eat.

It’s funny, I look at my grandson who’s seven now. And when he, when he’s done, he says, I’m full. And he asks, can I be excused from the table? And of course we go, yeah, of course, now we don’t say clean your plate. 

Denise:
There’s that whole generation. I don’t remember my parents specifically saying clean your plate, but I totally grew up that way. So, essentially what you’re saying is that as you grew up, you were never taught to tune into your hunger. It was simply eaten until the plate’s gone and then we’re done.

Dawn:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. As I started gaining a little bit of weight in my twenties, but not even, not even that much to really be alarmed about. I got married when I was 30 and I do remember, dieting to lose weight for my wedding. And I did have a little bit of weight to lose, to lose then for the wedding. But after we got married, we enjoyed being together and we ate together and we drink together.

That’s when I really have started, we’re having our 32nd wedding anniversary this August. During our whole marriage there has been a lot of yo yo dieting up and down, up and down. 

Denise:
So what was it like in the recent years prior to weight loss with the Holy Spirit? 

Dawn:
I would say in January, probably with everyone else, I would set my goals. I’m going to lose weight this year. And I would start a diet and I started so many different diets but I would start a diet and then we’d go out to eat and have a couple of drinks and go off the diet.

And then it would take me not just days, but probably weeks. This last time before I started this, it was four months, you know, I started in November and it was May before I decided that I was going to diet again, you know, do, do something again. Fortunately, that’s when I found weight loss with the Holy Spirit was in May and I don’t think I have to diet anymore there. There was a, there was a lot of yo yo dieting back and back and forth.

And one of the things that I found was that my patterns is that I will drink and then my reality kind of becomes distorted. And it’s not like, you know, we’d have two or three beers maybe, but it was enough to where I wouldn’t care about the diet anymore. And so I would wait, I would wait till Monday or I’d wait till the beginning of the month or I’d wait till after the holiday to get back, to get started, to start the diet again. And so that is one of the key things that has really helped me this time is being able to look through the patterns and realize that if I am serious about losing weight this time, I’m not going to drink.

And I like drinking. I still like beer. For me, there’s nothing wrong with that. But right now in this season, I know that it distorts my truth. 

Denise:
Oh, that’s interesting. And so what you’re finding is that drinking is one of your chaos foods, or at least sets you up to be more vulnerable. 

Dawn:
Absolutely. 100%. Yes. Yeah.

Denise:
Interesting. And so if you guys are listening in, in, in our program, what we try to identify are things that throw us off common obstacles. And what Dawn said is, Hey, I saw a pattern that when I drink, I am overeating, or I just don’t care as much. And so she’s made the choice. And this is the first time I’m hearing about this.

So I just want everyone to know that no one told her she had to do this except for the Lord that, hey, listen, if you want to make some progress right now, not forever, but right now to make this easier for you, let’s cut out the alcohol. Is that what you’re saying, Dawn? 

Dawn:
That is, yes, that is correct.

Denise:
Oh, that’s so interesting. And  I hope that everyone is recognizing that this is between you and the Lord and he’s going to reveal what he wants for you. And there’s no rules here. You just get to decide. So take me to November, which I assume was November of 2023, you had  what you would probably call fallen off or just decided to stop dieting in November of 2023. 

Is that correct? 

Dawn: Yes. 

Denise:
Okay. And then tell me what happened in May or what drew you to the program when you said, all right, something’s got to change.

Dawn:
What happened was I had been reading a book about goals and I, at that point said I’ve, I recognized a lot of my patterns, which I’ve even delved deeper into with weight loss with the Holy Spirit.

And I said, these patterns have to change. This has to stop. I had seen weight loss with the Holy spirit on social media and it kind of kept popping up in my feed and I’d pray about it. And my thought was what’s the worst that could happen. I liked that the first challenges were free. That kind of drew me in because I was like, I can’t lose here.

If this does work, then this is, this is good. I can always pay later if that’s what it is. And so I said, okay, let’s give it a try. And you’re, you had a challenge that was starting May. I don’t remember if it’s May 2nd or May 6th, but I was just, I think I decided to hop on like May 5th, it was like a day before it was really close.

But it was perfect timing and I listened to the video, I listened to the challenge and started doing it. The thing that was really cool is that, sometimes it’s hard to be Catholic. We’ve, I’ve joined, I’ve joined other Christian weight loss  groups. But  the fact that this was Catholic just, you know, resonates, it’s so special, you know, our Catholicism has come such a long way since back in the seventies, you know, we didn’t raise our hands or do praise songs in church.

And now we have a praise night on Sunday nights at our church and there’s Bible studies and there’s. So many beautiful things that happened in the Catholic church. And so I’m proud to be Catholic and I wanted something that was for me, for you being Catholic. So  I decided I was going to try it. 

Denise: 
Okay. And then for everyone who’s listening I love that you brought up the free challenge because there is a free challenge that we offer at weight loss with the Holy spirit.

It’s a five day weight loss challenge. And one of the things I love about it is that at the core of our program is starting to open your eyes and tune into yourself. The challenge is a beautiful little taste of how it’s way different losing weight with the Holy Spirit and how it’s even more customized; how it’s just between you and the Lord.

And he will, he will reveal to you what he wants you to know. Do you remember some of the things that he revealed to you during that challenge? 

Dawn:
The very first thing was this is kind of simple, it’s eat what you love and feel good about it. Well, shoot, I love chocolate, but do I feel good about a whole candy bar or a whole gallon of ice cream or a whole steak?

Absolutely not. To me, it was so easy. Do I really feel good about this? No. Then just don’t eat it. I, it just made so much sense. And I think I did receive a lot of grace in the beginning because it was easy to set that down to go you don’t need that whole candy bar, one little piece, just to let them melt in your mouth is good and it was easy for me to follow those, those two simple guidelines the first few weeks. 

Denise:
Yeah. So maybe you don’t feel good about a whole gallon of ice cream, but half a gallon feels better, or, you know, like a big bowl. I don’t want anybody to get the impression that you have to put down any foods you don’t feel good about. You just find a way to feel good about them. Like Dawn said, you have a portion of the candy bar instead of the whole candy bar. 

Another thing that you mentioned was how special this program is that it’s Catholic. And I believe that every single woman who chooses to step into the room of weight loss of the Holy spirit has been hand picked. And I say that it is a special calling to decide that you want to unite your food and weight loss with the Lord.

It’s a special calling that he says now’s the time. You’re ready. You’ve been trying this on your own and I think that you are ready to make this easier. Let’s put down this burden. 

What do you think made you so ready now? Why do you think he chose this time for you? And maybe not before. 

Dawn:
I hadn’t planned on sharing this, but I was diagnosed with uterine cancer in December. And I knew that no matter what happened, I would have faith and I would believe and we didn’t know, you know, the early stages I didn’t know what  would happen afterwards or if I would make it through it or anything. And, but I just, I just had this strong belief that it’s always in God’s hands. And when he brought me out of this. I am cancer free. I was very thankful. I am very thankful and that’s right.

Praise God that he brought me through this and it was kind of a hard lesson to learn that every day is so precious. Every day is so precious and live it to your fullest. And I’m not my true self. And I said, this is enough of this dieting. And I was so determined. I wanted this so bad and I do feel that with all the diets and the cancer and now finding this In this time has been a huge blessing and I was really, really determined. 

I also set really bold goals. I set goals that I knew couldn’t reach. And there were goals that I was excited about. One of the things that I really get excited about is I want a roller blade. And I’m a big girl now and my ankles aren’t quite strong enough, but I thought, what do I need to do to rollerblade? Well, I need to do exercises to strengthen my ankles. I do need to lose some weight and so that when I fall, I’m not going to really hurt myself.

And I did set big, bold goals that kind of got butterflies in my stomach and I haven’t hit every goal right on, but I’ve made a lot of progress, more progress than I would have thought, you know, back in April or May. And that was really exciting. I started in May, but I just finished video eight last week.

So  this was definitely very Holy spirit paced for me. I just took it very slow. Make sure that I understood each step before I went on to the next step and I was really hopeful. I’m still learning, even with video eight, I made a whole list of notes and aha moments and different things that were really eye opening to me.

But the other thing that was writing down my history when I did write my history back down and I don’t know if it was May or June, the history of my yo yo dieting and what I remember feeling as a young girl and seeing my mom dieting and the start and stop of all these diets. 

I’m 62 years old, and I have started and stopped so many diets, I want that to be the end. I don’t want to do that anymore. Looking back on my life and the history has been wonderful. It’s been such great stuff to learn. It’s been alarming and it’s been the thing. 

Denise:
So you mentioned your bold goals, which I love that phrase. Tell us about your bold goals and your weight loss. 

Dawn:
So I did set a bold goal that I was going to lose 25 pounds by the 4th of July. And I do realize that was a little over eight weeks and I thought to myself what do you need to do to lose fat? And what if, how are you going to feel? I mean, all the things, all the steps in the videos that you share, choose the thoughts and the feelings. All of that played such an important role in my weight loss, Denise. And, you know, just always reflecting. And then I know it was late, like probably early July is when I started or maybe end of June is when I started doing the morning and evening reflections.

Well, that was amazing in itself. I kept thinking 25 pounds by the 4th of July. And I kept, I was always in it thinking about what do I need to do? What are the choices that I’m making? And I ended up the week before the 4th of July, I think it was June 30th or June 30th. I weighed myself and I had lost 20 pounds and I was like, that’s so good. I was so proud of myself. It’s just gotta be something that is personal to you, whether it’s weight loss or rollerblading or going outside and playing with the kids, you know, those things that maybe you haven’t done in a while that you always wanted to do.

And that’s what really got me excited about what if, what if, what if I could do this? So I just keep working and I keep doing the morning and evening reflections. The second most valuable of the two steps I told you earlier got me started. But now the morning and evening reflections are gold. 

Denise:
You know for everyone listening, the excitement in your voice and that excited feeling is what drives you to stay so committed. And so I know everyone listening is like, well, what did she do to lose those 20 pounds? She figured out how to cultivate the feeling of excited. She created bold goals. She reviewed the goals. And I want you to share even more specifics with us Dawn, but I really want to just point out that you have that cultivating that feeling of excited.

What do you think was the thought that you kept practicing that allowed you to feel excited? 

Dawn:
I honestly kept thinking of the bold goal. Do you, Dawn, you have a bold goal? Is this going to help you get to your goal? Is this going to help you get to your goal? And I did repeat that to myself often. Is this going to get me closer to my goal? 

I’m sticking to the plan and, and all of that is really, really great.

Denise:
Yeah. So, another cool part of your story that I want everyone to hear is that you had bold goals in the beginning and use of the drive that got you to lose those 20 pounds. You’re not feeling that right now.

That doesn’t mean you’re not doing the program. You’re just in a different season. I recently lost 15, nearly 20 pounds, earlier this year after I’d had that weight gain from my gut healing. And  there was a season where I took two and a half months. And I said, this is my intentional weight loss season. 

And I think we go through seasons where we’re more focused on that. And then you can go into these maintenance seasons and then go into another loss. How is this different? And how does it feel different from other weight loss attempts? 

Dawn:
Well, I don’t feel like my brain is always in that tornado feeling. I don’t feel like it’s always that push and pull that struggle. I think it’s because this program is challenging us to really think about the feelings, think about the thoughts, why we have them, journal about them, you know write them down. I am still taking all kinds of notes. Do I feel like I think one of the questions is do I feel like God wants this for me or cares about this weight loss? Well I would say I probably kind of didn’t.

Why does he care about little old me and my weight loss? But after reflecting, I realized that he cares about everything about me and he cares about everything, about every one of the people in this program. He cares about the littlest things in our lives. And weight loss is just, is a side note of who we’re becoming, the woman that when we’re generally down all of those things who are the woman you want to become, or God wants you to become.

Well, if that’s really putting that on your heart to become that woman, then he does want you to lose weight and feel good about yourself so you can become the woman that he really wants you to become.

Denise:
The point is that this work and being at getting to a healthy weight this way improves all areas of your life

Dawn:
And being honest with yourself, just laying it, whether you think it’s there or not. Like I said, I’m still finding ways that I’m laying it out there and realizing what is the truth. You know, you ask a lot of really great questions throughout the study, and they’re all relevant. Every step is good. 

Denise:
I think you said something really interesting when you said, we have to lose weight to become the woman that the Lord wants.

I believe that, but I want to switch it around that by becoming the woman that the Lord wants us to be, then we just, our weight balances out. That makes more sense.So for the people who are listening, there is a portion of our program where we sit and meditate with the Lord and he gives us an image of the woman that he wants us to become and who we’re going to be creating. 

Dawn, can you share some of the women I’m becoming statements that you have? 

Dawn:
I am a woman who is not controlled by food. I am a woman who has a lot of energy. I am a woman who naturally eats smaller portions. I am a woman who rollerblades. I love it.  

Oh, cute clothes were kind of important things for me. Cute clothes and to fit in them properly. Not, you know, not to have them be tight. 

Denise:
Oh, you mentioned the pace that you’ve done the program. So the program is eight videos and when we’re recording this, it is the beginning of August. And so you said that you did the program, Holy Spirit paced. So in our program for everyone listening, we do challenges, which is one video a week, or you have the option to do Holy Spirit paced and Holy Spirit paced just means self paced, but it’s really a lot of people think that they want to come in and do the challenge.

And then the Lord’s like, Oh no, I want you to spend more time here or there, or your life demands that you slow down or speed up. And so I guess I just wanted to say that you’re never behind. And Dawn, I’m pretty sure your brain’s like, we should have been done by now. No, as long as you’re living on this earth.

Continuing to talk to the Lord and progress in the way that he wants us to care for ourselves will be our daily job.

Dawn:
You don’t have to rush it, and I certainly didn’t. I wanted to make sure that I understood every  part before I went on to the next. I can’t wait to go back to some of these videos, videos three and four, and just kind of reflect on the whole thing again, which I do plan to do. One of the things we talked about was that I did have family here for the whole month of July and making that brain dump and dumping it all out on a paper, what could possibly go wrong and how am I going to handle that?

Well, that was so huge. And I was very busy running around with my seven year old grandson which I loved every minute of it. But I think that’s one of the reasons why I also wanted to be in the moment and just realize these are the steps that we’re going to take me through right now.

And I was exhausted at night, and my brain was tired, and so I just knew that I could only handle so much, and I just had to keep thinking of, you know, eat slow, put your utensils down, and those are huge gifts as well, just to think about those two things. You can eat anything you want and just making sure that you feel good about it and eating it slowly is really key for me. 

Denise:
The program is so dang simple, right? The three eating habits are eating slow, chewing your food 20 times, emptying your hands between bites and emptying your mouth before the next bite.

So this is a very simple practice. And if that’s all you would do, your attention and intention when you would eat would improve. But then you also mentioned the richness of the program, that you can just continue to learn more and more and more about what the Lord wants you to know about yourself, about weight loss. 

So you can just keep going deeper and deeper and deeper if you want. The other thing that’s interesting is that the program teaches you how to handle things like you just said, out of town guests for a month. Which just boggles my mind. And one of the activities that we talked about during coaching was to say, hey, let’s mind dump all the things that you’re worrying about and let’s just address them, which helped you feel so confident and present when they were with you, take care of yourself. 

Finally, I think what’s really important to know is that you have just finished video number eight, which is the end of the program, but you lost the majority of your weight by only getting halfway through the program, 

I think everybody has a different journey and you don’t have to get through video number eight to have extremely amazing weight loss success.

Dawn:
Another big one for me was to not be afraid of wasting food. And it did help me when my grandson said he was full and there was still food on his plate. I knew that wasn’t my invitation to eat off of his plate; it’s okay to waste food. We waste a lot of other things in our journey, whether it’s time or gas or energy on different things. So wasting, you know, a little bit of food is  not going to help us towards our goals. That’s for sure if we eat it  or don’t waste it.

Denise:
So, I’m noodling around and I want to do a podcast on wasting food soon, but let me just noodle this with you. If wasting means that the food did not have its intended purpose, what I think is that it served its purpose and there’s leftovers. 

So go with me on this, like, if you made me a cake to show your appreciation and your love for me  and I received it and I felt so loved and appreciated, but I never ate it, didn’t it still serve its purpose? 

Dawn:
Yeah, that’s good. 

Denise:
So I’m just trying to noodle around like wasting something means that we’re not using it for its intended purpose. So, is it even possible to waste time? Is it even possible to waste food? So I don’t know. I find that I have that thought like, oh, I shouldn’t waste this and I’m like, am I?  Cause it’s just a thought. It’s just something that I carried with me since my childhood. 

It’s of that generation, but do I really want to believe that? Does it even work for me now? One of the thoughts I’m trying to practice is something like I’m learning to let go of what I don’t need.  

So, this has been such a life giving interview, Dawn. I had no idea of your cancer diagnosis. I just again want to say, Praise God. Praise God that he brought you through that and you’re thriving. Look at you, do you feel way better than even before cancer. 

Dawn:
Well, I’m very hopeful. And, you know, for me, this is just the beginning. I see weight loss of the Holy spirit just being such an active part and important part of my journey, for sure, as  I continue on here.  If I could just share the two steps that I think that I would share with other people is to do all the steps in the program with weight loss with the Holy Spirit, make sure you’re watching the videos, just stay in the program, listen to the podcasts, get on as many coaching calls or at least rewatch the calls if you, aren’t able to be live on them. Do the check-ins because you’re worth it. And I think God wants you to be there for those check-ins.  Do all the steps, stay in the program and then set that bold goal, set something that really excites you.

That is so exciting that you don’t even know if you can attain it, but you’d really love to and make it exciting

Denise:
So fun. What else did we not cover that you want to make sure the audience knows? 

Dawn:
Biggest thing is to do the essential programs, eat slowly, eat what you love, but consciously think about what do you feel good about? Is it the food? Is it the portion? And it’s really easy to follow and do anywhere. I’m the same Dawn here in Florida when I was visiting Wisconsin and whether I’m at work or whether I’ve got family visiting it really is easy and don’t make it, don’t make it harder than it is. And if it’s too hard, just take that one step, take one or two steps, watch that video, get motivated. 

Denise:
I love that. And you mentioned the check ins. We have not only group coaching, but we also have check ins where it’s kind of like the old, like, Weigh in, but nobody, nobody shares their weight, but you check in and you say, what’s going well with your program and what needs work and you get three minutes to share and you hear the other women, we do that early morning, afternoon and evening so there’s no reason to not show up. 

Well, Dawn, thank you so much for sharing your story today. It’s just been so much fun. I’m so excited to see how much progress you make in the next eight weeks. 

Dawn:
Thank you. Thank you, Denise.