Nikki Cheak (00:01.506)
I'm Niki Cheek and welcome back to Real Food, Real Energy, Real Life. This show, especially today, is for midlife moms who are done with all of the extremes, the quick fixes, and done with the shame-based plans where you feel like crap, to be honest. So if you ever feel like you're doing all of the things and you're eating better and you're moving more, you're not having as many snacks, but you're still not seeing movement on the scale, I want you to know today's episode is for you.
because your body might be shifting in ways that a number can't show. And honestly, these non-scale victories are way more important than that little number. And once you learn how to spot some of these changes, everything is going to start to click and you are gonna start to feel better. So I wanna tell you about a client that I recently had. We're gonna call her Sarah. And she came to me and she was frustrated. And she was talking to me about all of the things that she had been doing. She was eating better.
She was moving, she was drinking more water and the scale hadn't budged, not even a little. And I get it, right? Like you're putting in all of this effort and that stupid number is there and it's like, ha ha ha, you're not gonna change, right? And I asked her a couple of questions and she started to shift. So some of these questions were, know, how are you sleeping? Are your cravings still as intense?
and how are your clothes fitting? And you know what she told me? She said, well, I actually, I've been sleeping through the night more. I haven't felt so bloated and my jeans have started to fit and I don't actually have to suck in anymore to button them. Well, she almost missed all of it because she was so focused on the scale. And that was a light bulb moment for her because for so many women,
The truth is like that scale is just there, right? But at the end of the day, it's a terrible measure of progress, okay? And I want you to hear that because it doesn't measure your inflammation and it cannot show the hormones that are healing inside of your body. And it can't track the shifts that you feel and the ones that at the end of the day, these are the ones that matter. Look.
Nikki Cheak (02:25.038)
At the end of the day, we all want to feel better in our clothes, right? And we want to make sure that we're here to live long, healthy lives. At least for me, I want to be here when my kids have kids and they have kids, right? I want to be here and I want to feel good and I want that longevity to matter. And that's the kind of things that matter in real life. So you might be thinking like, okay, well, if the scale's not moving, then clearly what I'm doing isn't working. And
The belief that you're thinking there, that's what's keeping you, that's what's helping you start over and making you think like, okay, I gotta try this diet or I gotta try this supplement or I gotta do this or I gotta do that, right? And what the scale is not telling you is that your inflammation is going down. Your hormones are starting to rebalance, your nervous system is actually calming down and you're burning fat and building lean muscle at the same time.
because the scale is a single number on, let's call it what it is, a little piece of plastic, okay? And maybe you have a metal scale, whatever the case is. But if you don't know that your pants fit different, that your energy is starting to come back, and that you didn't need the snack to survive carpool line, right, or mindlessness snacking, then like, you're feeling better.
But most of us aren't just trying to weigh less, right? We wanna feel clearer, right? We want that energy. We wanna feel better, right? And I just said, like, we wanna be here for when our kids have kids. And the scale doesn't measure that, okay? But your body does. And we're gonna talk about what these shifts are and how to start to track them. And look, if you've been doing some of this work, right?
You're eating better, you're moving more, and you're making some different choices, but you're still feeling discouraged because the skill isn't moving. This is why I coach the way that I coach inside of my six week reset. Because it's not a diet, and it's not about chasing a number, okay? It's about creating real and sustainable change that you can feel for your lifetime. Okay, this is not just a six week program. This is about how you shift your life.
Nikki Cheak (04:42.188)
And we focus on things in the program like fat loss that doesn't require perfection and hormone support that fits your real life like dinners on the go in the car, right? Or how many times you drive back and forth to the high school for summer camp. Totally not me. And tracking progress that goes way beyond the scale. And I want you to think about these non-scale victories, right? So.
If you're ready to stop starting over and you want to see how to make these things become a reality, then shoot me a DM on Instagram at Nicky Cheek Wellness or go to my website, intentionalwellnesscoaching.com and click on how to work with me and you will find all of the details on the six week reset. But I want to talk about what's actually worth tracking right now where you're at as a midlife mom.
because if the scale is the only way that you're measuring progress, you're going to feel like nothing is working when everything really is, okay? So the first thing I want to start to think about is sleep quality, because how many times do we wake up in the middle of night and we start to not feel super great and so we wake up in the middle of night, right? But when you start to eat in a different way, when you start to feel your body in a different way, when you start to work out,
that in a way that syncs with that nutrition, then you do fall asleep faster. You stay asleep longer and you don't wake up feeling like you got hit by a truck or you have to the snooze buttons 15 times. Okay, this isn't just about rest. It's a direct sign that your cortisol is starting to balance out and that your nervous system is finally like taking a big exhale. Okay, another thing to measure when you are on this
in this lifestyle change is inflammation and bloating. So maybe you ask yourself if your rings are fitting better or do your jeans slide on without, you know, having to like suck everything in and fight and like squat down, right? Or is your stomach calmer in the afternoon after meals? Does your face look thinner, right? Because a lot of times we release a lot of inflammation in our face.
Nikki Cheak (06:58.982)
And if your body's releasing water that it's been holding onto from stress and poor sleep and hormone imbalance, that scale might not shift, but your waistline will and you're gonna feel it. Okay, and that's a big piece. And then the third thing I want you to think about when you're on this journey is are your cravings and your energy changing? And so I want you to think about this week, okay? Are you going to the pantry less at night? Are you, you know, holding steady without
that 3 p.m. we, like last week in the episode, we talked about that 3 p.m. snack that you should prep that's going to give you, you know, the bright energy and the right nutrition. So are you getting to 3 p.m. without eating a cup of coffee? And are your food choices starting to feel easier, right? Not like, I really want that muffin right now, okay? Or instead maybe you're like, ooh, I'm really wanting some berries or an apple or, you know, something that is, you know.
from the ground or from a mother, okay? That's your blood sugar that's stabilizing. And when that happens, your hormones start working with you and they're not working against you. And that, my friend, is progress. So think about this, your sleep, your inflammation and your bloating and your cravings. Like these are the things that you should really be measuring. And these are all the things that we focus on inside of the six week reset, because the scale is not necessarily the end goal and it's not, you know, what's going to be there.
but these are the things that are going to move the needle. Okay. Those are the things that you want to be focused on. So I want you to try something this week and it's simple, right? You don't need an app. You don't need a spreadsheet. You just a notebook, okay. Or the notes app on your phone. And I want you to pull up these things or write it down. And each day I want you to ask yourself these three questions. How did I sleep last night? So.
Did I fall asleep easily? Did I stay asleep? Did I wake up feeling more rested than usual? Okay. So sleeping, I want you to track some of this. Then the next thing is, was I bloated? Did I feel gross today? Okay. So were you puffy? Were you swollen by the afternoon? Were your clothes more comfortable than last week? Okay. So I want you to think about that question. Or did I crash or crave today? So at three o'clock, four o'clock, whatever that time is for you, did you hit a wall?
Nikki Cheak (09:22.208)
Okay, were you desperate for snacks or sweets? Or do you feel pretty good and you had a good day? So I want you to ask yourself these three questions and track them every day this week. Okay? And then go back and read it to yourself. And if you're fueling your body the right way, you're moving your body the right way, you're getting the hydration that you need, you're going to start to see those shifts that you would have missed if you were only staring at the scale. Okay? And these are the signs that your body is responding.
And when you start tracking these, you stop quitting too early, you're staying in the game, and that's when you finally get the results that you've been chasing. Okay? So, if this episode gave you that, yeah, okay, now I get it, right? Then stop letting that scale be the thing that decides whether or not you're doing a good job. Because I can promise you that if you're making some changes, you're doing a good job. Progress is happening.
but it might just be showing up in ways that numbers can't track. And if you want help building this rhythm, this routine, whatever you wanna call it, that is going to support your life, you can grab the Break Free From Dieting Guide. It's gonna give you all the things that you need to start to change those. But if you're also ready to take that next step and you're like, okay, I just, I'm done. I don't wanna try it on my own anymore. I want some accountability. Head over to the show notes and...
go check out the link for the six week reset because we work on all of these things throughout the six week reset and it's gonna help you from stop, you're not gonna spiral over that scale anymore. So if you, if this episode has helped or made you think in a different way, would you leave a quick review because it's going to help more moms like us find the show and stop quitting progress that's actually working.
And next week, I'm so excited because we are going to talk about something that truly throws all of us off and that's summer dinner. Okay. We are eating at different times. You might be the last one to eat. Maybe you don't eat, right? Or dinner is just like, you know, corralling the chaos. So I'm going to show you how to build a simple, flexible dinner rhythm that you can fall back on even when the kitchen's chaos and you're cleaning up while everyone else is already full. You won't want to miss it. I will see you there.
