Announcer 0:02
Welcome to Getting AheadShot. a show for anybody wanting to get ahead in life. Join conversations between international award winning photographer Lane Hickenbottom and his clients who while Getting AheadShot offer relatable tips and strategies on a variety of topics, and now here’s lane.
Lane Hickenbottom 0:24
Hey everybody. Today’s guest is a total ray of sunshine. throughout her life, she lights up dark times to find a more optimistic outlook for herself and her family. After spending 25 years in corporate positions, she took a huge leap, creating her own consulting business coaching people to find their spark their health and their happiness. Carrie Lyons is a health and empowerment coach and the founder of victory lane health coaching. She is a weight loss expert, published author, motivational speaker, two time cancer survivor, Angel mommy to a stillborn baby, a six time marathoner, a long distance cyclist, wife and mother to a beautiful Ethiopian little girl. Her most recent feat was summiting Pikes Peak on a bike. And I’m almost worn out just listing all of her accomplishments. But I know this conversation is gonna energize me right back up. Carrie Lyons, thanks so much for joining this show.
Carri Lyons 1:26
Thank you so much for having me. And it’s so fun to be here today.
Lane Hickenbottom 1:31
It has been fun, you guys. So she came in for a headshot session. And I was telling I don’t think I’ve spent this much time not shooting we spent so much time talking. It she’s, she’s just one of those people that you want to talk to so much fun.
Carri Lyons 1:51
I was so much fun to like, share stories with you. So I’m just glad you were opening to listening.
Lane Hickenbottom 2:00
Fun, fun, I wouldn’t say morning. But we’re well into the afternoon now. So Carri talk to me, let’s first start off as a health and empowerment coach, what is it that you do?
Carri Lyons 2:13
So I’m in a light mode, I empower people to find their joy. And I do that by showing women how to lose excess body fat. Because for myself, I know that when I don’t feel good, when I don’t feel healthy, then I lose my joy and I lose my sunshine. So if I’m the only one that I’m not the only one that feels like that, and I love empowering women on how they can find that within themselves. So that’s what I do. So basically, I help women lose weight with a little science and a lot of motivation.
Lane Hickenbottom 2:50
A little science and a lot of motivation. So digging a little deeper on that. Let’s go with it. Let’s start with the science and then kind of talk about the motivation.
Carri Lyons 3:01
So there’s so many different ways that you can approach losing weight, and so many of them work and what most of us want is a get, you know, get thin quickly, type program, but honestly, overall, the your overall weight and whatnot, it’s going to catch up to you. So, um, so I can teach this science and you know, teach people more about that. But what really keeps you going is understanding the vision and the motivation behind it to be like, keep going to get your goals. But you know, if you just look at weight loss as a goal to start and a goal that end, and don’t make it more rounded, like a lifestyle change, you’re just going to go back and gain all that weight back. And it’s going to catch up to you eventually. So my sole client is done having kids and I focus on women specifically, being a cancer survivor myself, but because your body changes with hormones, and I can completely attest to that. So I help women specifically so and I teach people very basic ways to lose weight that anybody can do it’s not this huge plan where you have to you know, change your whole life or you know, subscribe to me kind of diet it’s just changing things thought by thought little by little.
Lane Hickenbottom 4:34
Very good. And and so the motivation part of it what what does that look like for your clients?
Carri Lyons 4:41
So the motivation is to keep going with so my clients are not clients that want to lose 5 -10 pounds. They’re ones that have felt like their weight has been an issue their whole life for them, and they don’t know. You know how they can incorporate those practices into their daily life. So I help them, you know, with that going, this is what we can do to make that change for you. So when you do reach your goal weight, you feel so good that you don’t want to go back to those old habits and those poor eating habits. So, you know, my goal is to help, you know, teach women that one, you don’t need to kill yourself at the gym. You know, like I said before, you don’t need to subscribe to a certain diet, you don’t need to become all keto and paleo, and whatnot. And so and just helping people kind of make small changes to a really big change in their life.
Lane Hickenbottom 5:39
Yeah, so. So let’s, let’s talk about some, some tips, some strategies that if if I was one of those people who, who you were looking to help and you know, just being honest, I’ve I’ve had times my life when what I’ve gotten into obese stage, what are some of the first things you encourage me to do?
Carri Lyons 6:03
So what I do is allow one, what’s the first thing that we do when like January 1 comes, it’s like, I’m going to join the gym, and I’m going to get back into it. And I’m going to get done eating with whatever, you know, over eating. So and that doesn’t just happen in January, that happens in all seasons, like we’re pretty much all there in the past year, look at COVID. I mean, how many people’s diets changed within that. So there’s a time that you want to do a hard reset to be like, I’m done, I’m going to reset this and go back to you know, eating healthy and whatnot. But also understand that there’s going to be a time to splurge too. And not giving in to that I’m going to splurge now forever, because what’s going to happen in like five years is that you’re going to be like, okay, now I need to I’ve splurged so much, now I need to go back to, you know, dieting again, and really keeping that in play. So for example, you know, I just got back from Hawaii yesterday. But before we left for Hawaii, I did not drink any alcohol for 45 days. And I want to continue on that. And I set in place rules for myself to, to follow to say if I’m going to stick with this, but I’m going to enjoy vacation. Where am I going to like fall off the wagon, I guess. So I set boundaries for myself to say if I’m on vacation, I’ve never been to Hawaii, it’s our 20th wedding anniversary, I’m going to allow myself to drink alcohol while on vacation. While on Hawaii, I cannot be at the airport in Seattle drinking, I cannot be drinking on the plane. You know, I cannot be in Oman at the airport, it was like in Hawaii that was that. And then I’m done. So when seeking like setting your boundaries, you know, for you, it could be like, okay, it’s just o’clock every night, I’m not going to eat. So that would be one boundary. To help within that. It could be like, Okay, I’m not going to have you know, dessert anymore. If that is something that you do on a daily basis, or I’m not going to run out and have coffee every single day and kind of taking, looking at your own daily life and saying what it is that’s unhealthy to you and moving away from that. And it could be just breaking the habit, you know, like going to Starbucks every day for coffee is a habit for some people. And it could just be like, taking that out. You know, drinking alcohol for a lot of people could be one. And that’s, that’s one reason why I just stopped drinking alcohol completely. It was never like out of hand or anything. But I just felt like it was just kind of a gray area that I felt like for me to gain more clarity. I was like, I’m just not gonna drink alcohol. I really felt like I was in this like fog. And, you know, you could say that has nothing to do with health and weight. But it it did. And I could tell when I was in Hawaii and I started drinking, like how much more it affected me. But now that, you know, I’m back, I’m like, Okay, I’m not drinking. And it was funny because you and I just talked about this because you would have some beverages in your studio, which I am like, that’s awesome. But I was like, I know, I don’t drink. I’m not doing that. And and and i think that that might be a big thing for people is drinking alcohol, especially for guys to maybe give up. You know. So that’s kind of like a taboo subject. So I’m just gonna leave it there. But that was like something for me that I needed to do for myself and set boundaries with that. So so one would be looking at your own life and saying what is one thing that you could change that you wanted to get better at? What’s a habit that you could break to help improve, you know, your health? It could be something like, I’m gonna go walking every day for one hour. You know, maybe it could be adding in a habit that is healthy and taking one out, making those small changes.
Lane Hickenbottom 9:59
Yeah. And then as we were discussing about, yeah, like he said, I’ve got beverages in my studio that happens. But when there is a part of a culture, a lot of people’s culture, I’m certainly guilty of this is just glorifying alcohol isn’t there? And so person wouldn’t necessarily have to cut it out. But maybe
Carri Lyons 10:23
Cut back.
Lane Hickenbottom 10:23
Yeah, just kind of.
Carri Lyons 10:24
Yeah,
Lane Hickenbottom 10:25
Rexamined the way that you look at it.
Carri Lyons 10:27
Yeah, and actually, I do have some clients that when we first start, you know, they’ll say, I’m drinking wine every night. And you know, like, look at what happened with COVID, that totally happened, you know, where it was, like, oh, we’re gonna have happy hour on zoom. And it was kind of like this release to get through, like, we’re still gonna have happy hour. And then a year later, people are like, Huh, I just gained 15 pounds, where did that come from? And it was like a small habit that started. So now we want to go back and change that. And I’ve had a few people saying, You’re not going to drink alcohol. I’m like, No, I have purposely set a goal of mine to say, I’m not going to do that. And it is glorious. It is glorified. It is and you really have to be, have truth in yourself to stick to that. But also understanding that, you know, I’m not going to, you know, if someone says, Yeah, but I still want to drink alcohol, then I could say, Okay, let’s cut back and only do it maybe one night a week instead of every night after work, or whatever it is. And really helping your body with that, because by drinking out alcohol honestly, is that it’s going to slow down your process, it will slow down your process, depending on how much weight you want to lose. And, and some people can buy into that some people, it doesn’t affect them at all. And some people, it affects them a lot. So you have to look at each person to be like, how is that affecting you another common thing that people drink that I see a lot that’s not alcohol is like your energy drinks. So and so we don’t really think like, oh, they’re really, really bad, they give us energy. But at the same time, they’re so filled with caffeine and sugar, that it can build plaque around your heart and really cause huge, like, heart attacks for young people. We don’t even think about that at all. And you know, I’ve seen the evidence I’ve seen people actually like die because they have so much plaque around their hearts. And so that’s just something else that we kind of look at that don’t isn’t a big deal, but it but it’s a big deal, it can totally, you know, cause things that you would not even see otherwise, like going back to alcohol, it causes a fatty liver, eating really high fat food, it causes, you know, the fatty liver as well. So these are things that in your 30s you may not even think about but it can completely catch up to you in your 40s and 50s. Which I know that I was one of those people I was infallible.
Lane Hickenbottom 12:57
So you mentioned like maybe building up positive habit, perhaps taking a walk an hour a day? What were some of those physical activity strategies that
Carri Lyons 13:13
you know, this is so funny because, you know, like from my bio, it’s a quite a long distance cyclist and I run marathons and you know, run my bike up to the top of Pikes Peak. Well, there was a time that that I had cancer surgery, there was a time where my stomach was completely open, I had 14 staples, and I could not run. I couldn’t. So what I do I in there like you can’t do stairs. Okay, so I lived in a condo that every day I was like I’m gonna get out and go walk. And I’m gonna make that walk longer than the day before. So by the time that I was able to drive again, by the time that I could get back and do stairs, I had pretty much walked a mile a day. And this is someone that couldn’t so if you so I’m imagining someone that hopefully can hear this that you don’t need to sign on at the gym, you don’t need to go out and run every day like walking is one of the best exercises that you can do if you are not already working out and you can do it anywhere you could do it at home you can pull up videos on YouTube and people that do walking exercises. So So don’t think of like exercise as this huge CrossFit you know kickboxing thing if you want to do that. That’s fine. But you know walking is one of those things that you can absolutely do anywhere and get it done and and I find inspiration from my clients this summer she and I started working together and she’s like I have little kids at home I can’t go you know walk at five o’clock in the morning because you know if they get up in the morning like I’m gonna be there you know and you just have to look at see okay, what can you do because cuz walking is something that is in everyone’s wheelhouse.
Lane Hickenbottom 15:04
Yeah, speaking of early mornings, do you recall where and what time of day it was that you and I met?
Carri Lyons 15:13
When we would run together? Wasn’t it? 6am? Right. Yeah.
Lane Hickenbottom 15:19
In the winter,
Carri Lyons 15:21
in the winter, and it was late fall, I suppose. You know, it was starting to be winter wheat started in December, and then you and I both got injured. And then COVID happened, so we never started it up again. Yeah. And that’s kind of hard to do. And especially, I need to start that up again. Now that it, you know, like COVID is slowly opening up some things, you know, but you know, with school, you know, I have a seven year old and so with school and everything, trying to make that work, I was like, Okay, this is gonna happen. So we’ll make that for some other time. But yeah, it was really interesting is that when COVID went down, our daughter when she was two, we’re like, we’re getting you a bike. You don’t even you can’t even walk yet, basically. But you were getting a bike. And, and it was amazing. And so we’ve always been biking people, but it was amazing to see how many people have been outside in the past year going hiking, or biking or how they can’t hold on to bikes. And I love that. I mean, I think that’s so amazing. So if you do have a family, and they are young, get them on bikes, you know, teach them how to ride a bike, by the time that they are like three, you know, go out for a hike, go look at new trails, you can find trails, whatever city that you’re in, and just get out and do something active, if you want to look at exercise, as far as a way to lose weight, do it consistently, at least five times a day, and do it for at least a half hour at a time. So maybe that would be a time to not do it with your kids. But you know, get up earlier and do YouTube or some home video or something to get that workout in for you to get that done.
Lane Hickenbottom 17:04
Yeah, but you know, that’s a really good point, too, is for for people who have busy family lives, it’s not like you have to find my exercise time. While while the kids are doing their thing you can do family things like going for walks
Carri Lyons 17:22
Yeah. Oh, you know, and then what we’ll do is that we’ll there’s a mountain biking trail by our neighborhood. And then we’ll go with the family. And sometimes I might say, you know what, I’m gonna go for a run, and then they’ll ride bikes, or whatever it is. But I love the fact that we’re like teaching her our seven year old ways to be active. And as an adult, as you know, someone, we’re I’m almost 58 realize that nature is one of my highest values, being outside and being in nature is absolutely one of my highest values and to teach her. You know, it’s like, we want to teach her that even though she complains about it, we’re still teaching her, you know, doing things to her ability, and teaching her that value of being outside and breathing in fresh air.
Lane Hickenbottom 18:10
Yeah, fantastic. And so when when somebody is my own experience, it, it’s really easy, relatively easy to continue a practice routine. It’s much harder to start one, isn’t it? Yeah. And so how do you get over that hump?
Carri Lyons 18:36
Okay. So, a lot of times people will say, I don’t have the motivation to do XYZ, whatever it is, I don’t have the motivation to look at my diet or to join a plan. I don’t have motivation to go out and exercise. And the thing is, is that motivation is, it’s a robbery of you your feelings, because it’s not motivation that you need, it’s you taking the action to get the motivation. So once you’re out and about, you know, every day walking or running, or whatever it is, you’re going to do so many everyday that you’re going to say, yeah, I’m gonna do it. And then that morning comes, let’s say that you’re going to go run at 6am. And, you know, you’re like, Oh, my God, I want to stay in bed. The motivation is not there. Of course, it’s not there. Nobody wants to get out of bed when it’s warm. Okay, so the motivation comes when you’re in mile one or mile two, or when you’re outside, that is where the motivation comes. The motivation comes after the fact. And once you do it more than you’re going to see that motivation coming earlier and earlier, but straight on that motivation is not there and it feels like it’s pulling teeth.
Lane Hickenbottom 19:51
I can kind of relate just being in and out of good exercise routines throughout my life. Probably a lot more out And then in but there’s certainly times when when you get almost Well, yeah, you absolutely get addicted to those good habits. Almost the same as you get addicted to bad habits and so much better habits to get addicted to, aren’t they?
Carri Lyons 20:17
Right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. And one of them for me is that for years I’ve been telling my husband that I want a treadmill. And then I saw that treadmill that peloton makes and I was like, I love that one. It’s like $4,000 or something like, you know, incredible. And so I was like, I want a treadmill, I want to do it really want a treadmill. But if I got a treadmill at home, I would get so used to it because I’m such a creature of habit is I would never want to go outside. I would be like, why would I want to go out there? It’s warm and safe in this environment. And it’s controlled. And I would never ever want to go outside and experience nature, you know, so. So that was like one habit that I changed. So this past summer, I bought cross country skis. And so this winter, this hellacious winter, I was like, I’m going out and I’m gonna go cross country skiing. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But had I gotten the treadmill, I would have been like, no, it’s cold. I can’t watch my movies. You know, and cross country skiing. I mean, there were days it was like three degrees out, and it was totally sunny, and nobody was out. It was making fresh tracks. It was amazing.
Lane Hickenbottom 21:18
Yes, yeah. So we were just discussing during your headshot session that I discovered this winter. And I’ve done it a little bit in the past, but winter hiking, especially after fresh snow. Yeah, family just we all we put on our snow clothes, our snow boots, bundle up. And it’s just so much that the sensation is way different in the winter. There’s a peacefulness there’s a quiet, you don’t have to share the trails if anybody
Carri Lyons 21:48
No, no. And, and that is like that is something that is really like nature’s secret that, that, you know, you’re like I’m experienced by it’s nobody else out here. And it is fun. And you do build up sweat, so you’re not freezing at all, you know? And it’s like the same thing where, you know, people are like, Oh, I’m not gonna run out there. It’s cold. I’m like one of those people too. But the same time I’m like, That’s bullshit carry because I go skiing, I go skiing when it’s 20 degrees out. And I was like, What do you mean, I can’t run outside? Like a warm up. So yeah, so it’s really, you know, being outside and enjoying nature and doing those things really changes your perspective, especially when you’re going to do all season long.
Lane Hickenbottom 22:30
Yeah, and if you’re experiencing What’s it called? seasonal?
Carri Lyons 22:35
Yeah, seasonal affective disorder. Is that right? seasonal effectiveness disorder. That’s the sad one. Yes.
Lane Hickenbottom 22:45
It’s gloomy and I don’t want to do anything.
Carri Lyons 22:47
Yeah, exactly. So then. So when we moved Omaha three years ago, we moved from Utah to Omaha, where we lived between 20 and 40 minutes by seven ski resorts. Okay, so we moved to Omaha, I was like skiing sucks here. I’m never gonna go outside. It was a horrible, and, you know, I was just in a really bad place to do that until this past summer. I was like, I’m gone. I’m buying cross country skis, because I need to do something. You know, if I can’t be in the mountains, at least I can still try to enjoy winter as much as I can and go hiking and cross country skiing and it kind of really saved my life.
Lane Hickenbottom 23:30
Now from a word from our sponsor, Crescent Ski Resort.
Carri Lyons 23:37
Yeah, they’re so fun. They’re super, super fun. Because we brought her daughter out this year to go skiing because when we moved from Utah, she was three. And then. Yeah, so that was a lot of fun to get her out there and be like, hey, let’s do this. And we go back to Utah. She could be like, I’m like you’re learning how to ski. You’ve heard definitely serving, I guess that she has no choice. Because if we’re like, if you’re going to hang with us, you got to learn how to do this stuff. So I call our family, the -ing family or the hiking and biking and running and skiing and paddleboarding family.
Lane Hickenbottom 24:08
That’s just like, you don’t have to get up and do push ups. Great outdoor fun.
Carri Lyons 24:17
Yeah. Yeah, and that’s a huge thing. Also, um, you know, when it comes to weight loss, you know, it, that is where that diet comes in. Like if you don’t use working out as an excuse to eat, you know, because that’s what we do. And so when we look at weight loss, you know, then we work out we look at them, it’s two separate beings as far as I worked out, therefore, I can earn what I’m gonna eat, and you’re totally contradicting what you are trying to do and that’s losing weight. And so it but I mean, I’m guilty of it too. I mean, when you You know, when we’re out, and we’re like, I’m going to go on a 50 mile bike ride, 60 mile bike ride, you’re like, dang, I earned these calories, I am going to eat whatever I want. But if you do that consistently and continuously, you were not going to lose weight. So that’s where the weight loss comes into play with the science of, you know, eating healthier, along with the getting fit, you know, and, and being physical, you want to marry those two things together.
Lane Hickenbottom 25:28
So let’s say I’m, I’m a mom, I’m in my 30s, or 40s, I’m done having children. And, you know, I, when I look at myself in the mirror, I’m, I’m just not seeing the, the body of the person who, who I envisioned when I was younger, who I thought I’d be, talk to that person who is just maybe stuck in whatever rut, feeling how they’re feeling.
Carri Lyons 26:00
It Yeah, it’s, um, so it’s, wherever you are, I always tell my clients, when I do a discovery call, wherever people are, is where you are, and just accept that that’s where you or congratulate you to be like, that’s exactly where you are, that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be. And I have clients that want to lose 50 6070 pounds, so their body has changed, you know, quite a bit. And you know, you’re not going to be that 20 year old person anymore, especially after you’ve had kids, especially for women, because our fat cells are formed, where we are going to carry fat around our thighs, or our stomachs areas, our bottoms, and we look at that we’re like, oh, you know, I have curves. And, you know, for the most people, for the most part, women have such a hard time with that, you know, I’m not doing liposuction, I’m not going to change your body at all, I am going to teach you how to lose that weight, and keep it off. And if you if you do end up losing so much weight that you feel like that you’re going to get that body back, that’s great. But what my goal is, is to teach people how to become healthy, be healthy, get down to their, their goal, and I don’t want to say goal weight, but it’s more like I want to lose 50 pounds. Great. And then we adjust it as as you go on, there is hope there’s always hope that you can look at and start changing those ways. The get thin, quick program, like liposuction CoolSculpting is not an end all for everybody. Because what’s happening is that those fat cells are being removed, but they’re predominantly going to be moved from the areas that are bothersome. But if you don’t change your diet, you can end up gaining weight in your arms, you know, in areas that fat wasn’t removed. So, so enjoy the shape of your body, and feel good about yourself. And, and, and let’s work together on seeing where you want to go with your weight loss. And sometimes people might say I want to be 50 pounds lighter. And that just may not be something that most clients, most of my clients want to lose like 30 pounds, I’m like, do you want to lose 30 pounds, and they’re like, I wish I wish I could lose 15 and then they lose 25 and they’re like, Oh my gosh, I could do this, they never thought that they could do it. They think of it kind of going wow, I never thought that something like this would work. Because I’ve tried so many times. And it’s so surprising for them to be like wow, that really does work. And I’m gonna keep going like this because I know it works. And I love giving people the tools to keep going three or four months out, I don’t want to work with clients forever, honestly, because then that just becomes tiresome, I’m gonna give people the tools to be like, if you do this a lot and keep doing it, then it you know, you’re going to see some progress. Um, I don’t want to teach skills to be like, Oh my gosh, you lost a ton of weight. And now what you have no idea how to lose weight at all. I want to give people the skills to teach them like how to change certain things. And you know, my program could work for an entire year for someone, but for someone else, it could work for three months and then their body slows down each person is different in their own body. And people just have to understand that like, you know, I think a lot of times we traject General generalization generalizations about body type, but each body doesn’t subscribe to those generalizations.
Lane Hickenbottom 29:55
What does it mean to people when when they find success? In losing weight, what’s the benefit?
Carri Lyons 30:06
One, it’s going to be their their joy. That is the number one is just their attitude. And I grew up as an overweight teenager, I’ve struggled with weight, my, you know, total, like, late teenage life. And then, you know, I’m gonna say until now, because it’s always there. And what might that what that means is that for women is that I have struggled with this is that their weight takes over their brain, it is always a problem to them. And it’s something that’s always going to be a problem, and they can never get rid of it. So when they lose weight is like the clouds have parted, the gray skies have gone away and the sun comes out. And that is what it’s like to them to be like, wow, I feel so good about that, not only on their health, but you know, a lot of times they have more energy, they can run with their kids, they can get out on the ground, they’re more active, they want to do things more, and they have more of a confidence and an excitement within them. So for me, it’s not about just like lose weight. It’s like, Oh, my gosh, remove this cloud over my head that makes me feel so miserable. That is what I’m helping clients do. And they want to feel so good forever, that they’ll keep doing these principles and practices every day. Because they they know what it’s like to feel so horrible in their own in their own lives and their diet, that they want to continue on that positive effect of feeling like they have rays of sunshine all day long.
Lane Hickenbottom 31:46
Fantastic. before we sign off and tell people where they can find you. You’ve got a five day restart coming up here at the end of March.
Carri Lyons 31:56
Yeah.
Lane Hickenbottom 31:57
Do you want to tell people about that?
Carri Lyons 31:59
Yeah, it’s gonna be a free five day kickstart. And I’m doing it the week. I haven’t looked at the dates yet. But it’s going to be the week before Easter. And then I’m going to kick off, kick off his signature program, but the five day restart, it’s kind of like, okay, let’s get back to doing things like the basic principle, the number one principle I teach is drinking water because no one drinks enough water period. And I know that people are like, Hey, you drink too much water. I’m like, No, you can’t drink too much water. What that is, the most important thing when it comes to our bodies is having that water, because you you’re basically going to flush everything out, that’s going to be bad for your system. And then we’re going to kick start, you know, kind of getting back into that habit of like eating really, really great things. And then teaching some tools on why you may not want to eat certain things, or whatnot, and why maybe eating too many carbs are bad, or looking at alcohol, and some mindset things as well, to help with that and help people self esteem. So we’re going to kick that off at the end of March, and then kick into our signature program after Easter.
Lane Hickenbottom 33:14
Fantastic, you guys. She’s just a wonderful person. Carri Lyons, I really appreciate you being on my show. And for Getting AheadShot folks out there, I encourage you to check check out Carrie. She’s got a Facebook Live that she does. So you just want to friend her?
Carri Lyons 33:36
Yes. Because they’re actually pretty funny.
Lane Hickenbottom 33:39
They’re pretty funny. You know, one of the fun things about Carrie is she’s not afraid to laugh at herself, laughter is always there.
Carri Lyons 33:49
I know, send me a friend request. And I know that sounds so like, Oh, don’t you I have a business page. Yes, I have a business page. But that’s boring. Like, I want to know who you are. I really want to know who you are. So send me a friend request and be like, Hey, I heard you with Lane. So I know who you are. Because I you know, I want to connect with you. And if you know anybody that is just really feeling down in the dumps and just overwhelmed with their way you know, I want to help them because it’s you know, it just reveling in that ray of sunshine of their help and whatnot is just an amazing, amazing, amazing dream.
Lane Hickenbottom 34:27
Well, thank you for helping my audience. Get on that journey. And look forward to what’s to come from you think
Carri Lyons 34:37
I know. I know. Well, my head shot me excited. Alright, thank you.
Lane Hickenbottom 34:43
Thank you, Carri.
Announcer 34:49
Thanks for listening to the Getting AheadShot podcast recorded inside the Omaha headshot company studio to support the podcast share it with others posted added on social media or leave a five star review to learn more go to Getting aheadshot.com. We look forward to seeing you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Announcer 0:02
Welcome to Getting AheadShot. a show for anybody wanting to get ahead in life. Join conversations between international award winning photographer Lane Hickenbottom and his clients who while Getting AheadShot offer relatable tips and strategies on a variety of topics, and now here’s lane.
Lane Hickenbottom 0:24
Hey everybody. Today’s guest is a total ray of sunshine. throughout her life, she lights up dark times to find a more optimistic outlook for herself and her family. After spending 25 years in corporate positions, she took a huge leap, creating her own consulting business coaching people to find their spark their health and their happiness. Carrie Lyons is a health and empowerment coach and the founder of victory lane health coaching. She is a weight loss expert, published author, motivational speaker, two time cancer survivor, Angel mommy to a stillborn baby, a six time marathoner, a long distance cyclist, wife and mother to a beautiful Ethiopian little girl. Her most recent feat was summiting Pikes Peak on a bike. And I’m almost worn out just listing all of her accomplishments. But I know this conversation is gonna energize me right back up. Carrie Lyons, thanks so much for joining this show.
Carri Lyons 1:26
Thank you so much for having me. And it’s so fun to be here today.
Lane Hickenbottom 1:31
It has been fun, you guys. So she came in for a headshot session. And I was telling I don’t think I’ve spent this much time not shooting we spent so much time talking. It she’s, she’s just one of those people that you want to talk to so much fun.
Carri Lyons 1:51
I was so much fun to like, share stories with you. So I’m just glad you were opening to listening.
Lane Hickenbottom 2:00
Fun, fun, I wouldn’t say morning. But we’re well into the afternoon now. So Carri talk to me, let’s first start off as a health and empowerment coach, what is it that you do?
Carri Lyons 2:13
So I’m in a light mode, I empower people to find their joy. And I do that by showing women how to lose excess body fat. Because for myself, I know that when I don’t feel good, when I don’t feel healthy, then I lose my joy and I lose my sunshine. So if I’m the only one that I’m not the only one that feels like that, and I love empowering women on how they can find that within themselves. So that’s what I do. So basically, I help women lose weight with a little science and a lot of motivation.
Lane Hickenbottom 2:50
A little science and a lot of motivation. So digging a little deeper on that. Let’s go with it. Let’s start with the science and then kind of talk about the motivation.
Carri Lyons 3:01
So there’s so many different ways that you can approach losing weight, and so many of them work and what most of us want is a get, you know, get thin quickly, type program, but honestly, overall, the your overall weight and whatnot, it’s going to catch up to you. So, um, so I can teach this science and you know, teach people more about that. But what really keeps you going is understanding the vision and the motivation behind it to be like, keep going to get your goals. But you know, if you just look at weight loss as a goal to start and a goal that end, and don’t make it more rounded, like a lifestyle change, you’re just going to go back and gain all that weight back. And it’s going to catch up to you eventually. So my sole client is done having kids and I focus on women specifically, being a cancer survivor myself, but because your body changes with hormones, and I can completely attest to that. So I help women specifically so and I teach people very basic ways to lose weight that anybody can do it’s not this huge plan where you have to you know, change your whole life or you know, subscribe to me kind of diet it’s just changing things thought by thought little by little.
Lane Hickenbottom 4:34
Very good. And and so the motivation part of it what what does that look like for your clients?
Carri Lyons 4:41
So the motivation is to keep going with so my clients are not clients that want to lose 5 -10 pounds. They’re ones that have felt like their weight has been an issue their whole life for them, and they don’t know. You know how they can incorporate those practices into their daily life. So I help them, you know, with that going, this is what we can do to make that change for you. So when you do reach your goal weight, you feel so good that you don’t want to go back to those old habits and those poor eating habits. So, you know, my goal is to help, you know, teach women that one, you don’t need to kill yourself at the gym. You know, like I said before, you don’t need to subscribe to a certain diet, you don’t need to become all keto and paleo, and whatnot. And so and just helping people kind of make small changes to a really big change in their life.
Lane Hickenbottom 5:39
Yeah, so. So let’s, let’s talk about some, some tips, some strategies that if if I was one of those people who, who you were looking to help and you know, just being honest, I’ve I’ve had times my life when what I’ve gotten into obese stage, what are some of the first things you encourage me to do?
Carri Lyons 6:03
So what I do is allow one, what’s the first thing that we do when like January 1 comes, it’s like, I’m going to join the gym, and I’m going to get back into it. And I’m going to get done eating with whatever, you know, over eating. So and that doesn’t just happen in January, that happens in all seasons, like we’re pretty much all there in the past year, look at COVID. I mean, how many people’s diets changed within that. So there’s a time that you want to do a hard reset to be like, I’m done, I’m going to reset this and go back to you know, eating healthy and whatnot. But also understand that there’s going to be a time to splurge too. And not giving in to that I’m going to splurge now forever, because what’s going to happen in like five years is that you’re going to be like, okay, now I need to I’ve splurged so much, now I need to go back to, you know, dieting again, and really keeping that in play. So for example, you know, I just got back from Hawaii yesterday. But before we left for Hawaii, I did not drink any alcohol for 45 days. And I want to continue on that. And I set in place rules for myself to, to follow to say if I’m going to stick with this, but I’m going to enjoy vacation. Where am I going to like fall off the wagon, I guess. So I set boundaries for myself to say if I’m on vacation, I’ve never been to Hawaii, it’s our 20th wedding anniversary, I’m going to allow myself to drink alcohol while on vacation. While on Hawaii, I cannot be at the airport in Seattle drinking, I cannot be drinking on the plane. You know, I cannot be in Oman at the airport, it was like in Hawaii that was that. And then I’m done. So when seeking like setting your boundaries, you know, for you, it could be like, okay, it’s just o’clock every night, I’m not going to eat. So that would be one boundary. To help within that. It could be like, Okay, I’m not going to have you know, dessert anymore. If that is something that you do on a daily basis, or I’m not going to run out and have coffee every single day and kind of taking, looking at your own daily life and saying what it is that’s unhealthy to you and moving away from that. And it could be just breaking the habit, you know, like going to Starbucks every day for coffee is a habit for some people. And it could just be like, taking that out. You know, drinking alcohol for a lot of people could be one. And that’s, that’s one reason why I just stopped drinking alcohol completely. It was never like out of hand or anything. But I just felt like it was just kind of a gray area that I felt like for me to gain more clarity. I was like, I’m just not gonna drink alcohol. I really felt like I was in this like fog. And, you know, you could say that has nothing to do with health and weight. But it it did. And I could tell when I was in Hawaii and I started drinking, like how much more it affected me. But now that, you know, I’m back, I’m like, Okay, I’m not drinking. And it was funny because you and I just talked about this because you would have some beverages in your studio, which I am like, that’s awesome. But I was like, I know, I don’t drink. I’m not doing that. And and and i think that that might be a big thing for people is drinking alcohol, especially for guys to maybe give up. You know. So that’s kind of like a taboo subject. So I’m just gonna leave it there. But that was like something for me that I needed to do for myself and set boundaries with that. So so one would be looking at your own life and saying what is one thing that you could change that you wanted to get better at? What’s a habit that you could break to help improve, you know, your health? It could be something like, I’m gonna go walking every day for one hour. You know, maybe it could be adding in a habit that is healthy and taking one out, making those small changes.
Lane Hickenbottom 9:59
Yeah. And then as we were discussing about, yeah, like he said, I’ve got beverages in my studio that happens. But when there is a part of a culture, a lot of people’s culture, I’m certainly guilty of this is just glorifying alcohol isn’t there? And so person wouldn’t necessarily have to cut it out. But maybe
Carri Lyons 10:23
Cut back.
Lane Hickenbottom 10:23
Yeah, just kind of.
Carri Lyons 10:24
Yeah,
Lane Hickenbottom 10:25
Rexamined the way that you look at it.
Carri Lyons 10:27
Yeah, and actually, I do have some clients that when we first start, you know, they’ll say, I’m drinking wine every night. And you know, like, look at what happened with COVID, that totally happened, you know, where it was, like, oh, we’re gonna have happy hour on zoom. And it was kind of like this release to get through, like, we’re still gonna have happy hour. And then a year later, people are like, Huh, I just gained 15 pounds, where did that come from? And it was like a small habit that started. So now we want to go back and change that. And I’ve had a few people saying, You’re not going to drink alcohol. I’m like, No, I have purposely set a goal of mine to say, I’m not going to do that. And it is glorious. It is glorified. It is and you really have to be, have truth in yourself to stick to that. But also understanding that, you know, I’m not going to, you know, if someone says, Yeah, but I still want to drink alcohol, then I could say, Okay, let’s cut back and only do it maybe one night a week instead of every night after work, or whatever it is. And really helping your body with that, because by drinking out alcohol honestly, is that it’s going to slow down your process, it will slow down your process, depending on how much weight you want to lose. And, and some people can buy into that some people, it doesn’t affect them at all. And some people, it affects them a lot. So you have to look at each person to be like, how is that affecting you another common thing that people drink that I see a lot that’s not alcohol is like your energy drinks. So and so we don’t really think like, oh, they’re really, really bad, they give us energy. But at the same time, they’re so filled with caffeine and sugar, that it can build plaque around your heart and really cause huge, like, heart attacks for young people. We don’t even think about that at all. And you know, I’ve seen the evidence I’ve seen people actually like die because they have so much plaque around their hearts. And so that’s just something else that we kind of look at that don’t isn’t a big deal, but it but it’s a big deal, it can totally, you know, cause things that you would not even see otherwise, like going back to alcohol, it causes a fatty liver, eating really high fat food, it causes, you know, the fatty liver as well. So these are things that in your 30s you may not even think about but it can completely catch up to you in your 40s and 50s. Which I know that I was one of those people I was infallible.
Lane Hickenbottom 12:57
So you mentioned like maybe building up positive habit, perhaps taking a walk an hour a day? What were some of those physical activity strategies that
Carri Lyons 13:13
you know, this is so funny because, you know, like from my bio, it’s a quite a long distance cyclist and I run marathons and you know, run my bike up to the top of Pikes Peak. Well, there was a time that that I had cancer surgery, there was a time where my stomach was completely open, I had 14 staples, and I could not run. I couldn’t. So what I do I in there like you can’t do stairs. Okay, so I lived in a condo that every day I was like I’m gonna get out and go walk. And I’m gonna make that walk longer than the day before. So by the time that I was able to drive again, by the time that I could get back and do stairs, I had pretty much walked a mile a day. And this is someone that couldn’t so if you so I’m imagining someone that hopefully can hear this that you don’t need to sign on at the gym, you don’t need to go out and run every day like walking is one of the best exercises that you can do if you are not already working out and you can do it anywhere you could do it at home you can pull up videos on YouTube and people that do walking exercises. So So don’t think of like exercise as this huge CrossFit you know kickboxing thing if you want to do that. That’s fine. But you know walking is one of those things that you can absolutely do anywhere and get it done and and I find inspiration from my clients this summer she and I started working together and she’s like I have little kids at home I can’t go you know walk at five o’clock in the morning because you know if they get up in the morning like I’m gonna be there you know and you just have to look at see okay, what can you do because cuz walking is something that is in everyone’s wheelhouse.
Lane Hickenbottom 15:04
Yeah, speaking of early mornings, do you recall where and what time of day it was that you and I met?
Carri Lyons 15:13
When we would run together? Wasn’t it? 6am? Right. Yeah.
Lane Hickenbottom 15:19
In the winter,
Carri Lyons 15:21
in the winter, and it was late fall, I suppose. You know, it was starting to be winter wheat started in December, and then you and I both got injured. And then COVID happened, so we never started it up again. Yeah. And that’s kind of hard to do. And especially, I need to start that up again. Now that it, you know, like COVID is slowly opening up some things, you know, but you know, with school, you know, I have a seven year old and so with school and everything, trying to make that work, I was like, Okay, this is gonna happen. So we’ll make that for some other time. But yeah, it was really interesting is that when COVID went down, our daughter when she was two, we’re like, we’re getting you a bike. You don’t even you can’t even walk yet, basically. But you were getting a bike. And, and it was amazing. And so we’ve always been biking people, but it was amazing to see how many people have been outside in the past year going hiking, or biking or how they can’t hold on to bikes. And I love that. I mean, I think that’s so amazing. So if you do have a family, and they are young, get them on bikes, you know, teach them how to ride a bike, by the time that they are like three, you know, go out for a hike, go look at new trails, you can find trails, whatever city that you’re in, and just get out and do something active, if you want to look at exercise, as far as a way to lose weight, do it consistently, at least five times a day, and do it for at least a half hour at a time. So maybe that would be a time to not do it with your kids. But you know, get up earlier and do YouTube or some home video or something to get that workout in for you to get that done.
Lane Hickenbottom 17:04
Yeah, but you know, that’s a really good point, too, is for for people who have busy family lives, it’s not like you have to find my exercise time. While while the kids are doing their thing you can do family things like going for walks
Carri Lyons 17:22
Yeah. Oh, you know, and then what we’ll do is that we’ll there’s a mountain biking trail by our neighborhood. And then we’ll go with the family. And sometimes I might say, you know what, I’m gonna go for a run, and then they’ll ride bikes, or whatever it is. But I love the fact that we’re like teaching her our seven year old ways to be active. And as an adult, as you know, someone, we’re I’m almost 58 realize that nature is one of my highest values, being outside and being in nature is absolutely one of my highest values and to teach her. You know, it’s like, we want to teach her that even though she complains about it, we’re still teaching her, you know, doing things to her ability, and teaching her that value of being outside and breathing in fresh air.
Lane Hickenbottom 18:10
Yeah, fantastic. And so when when somebody is my own experience, it, it’s really easy, relatively easy to continue a practice routine. It’s much harder to start one, isn’t it? Yeah. And so how do you get over that hump?
Carri Lyons 18:36
Okay. So, a lot of times people will say, I don’t have the motivation to do XYZ, whatever it is, I don’t have the motivation to look at my diet or to join a plan. I don’t have motivation to go out and exercise. And the thing is, is that motivation is, it’s a robbery of you your feelings, because it’s not motivation that you need, it’s you taking the action to get the motivation. So once you’re out and about, you know, every day walking or running, or whatever it is, you’re going to do so many everyday that you’re going to say, yeah, I’m gonna do it. And then that morning comes, let’s say that you’re going to go run at 6am. And, you know, you’re like, Oh, my God, I want to stay in bed. The motivation is not there. Of course, it’s not there. Nobody wants to get out of bed when it’s warm. Okay, so the motivation comes when you’re in mile one or mile two, or when you’re outside, that is where the motivation comes. The motivation comes after the fact. And once you do it more than you’re going to see that motivation coming earlier and earlier, but straight on that motivation is not there and it feels like it’s pulling teeth.
Lane Hickenbottom 19:51
I can kind of relate just being in and out of good exercise routines throughout my life. Probably a lot more out And then in but there’s certainly times when when you get almost Well, yeah, you absolutely get addicted to those good habits. Almost the same as you get addicted to bad habits and so much better habits to get addicted to, aren’t they?
Carri Lyons 20:17
Right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. And one of them for me is that for years I’ve been telling my husband that I want a treadmill. And then I saw that treadmill that peloton makes and I was like, I love that one. It’s like $4,000 or something like, you know, incredible. And so I was like, I want a treadmill, I want to do it really want a treadmill. But if I got a treadmill at home, I would get so used to it because I’m such a creature of habit is I would never want to go outside. I would be like, why would I want to go out there? It’s warm and safe in this environment. And it’s controlled. And I would never ever want to go outside and experience nature, you know, so. So that was like one habit that I changed. So this past summer, I bought cross country skis. And so this winter, this hellacious winter, I was like, I’m going out and I’m gonna go cross country skiing. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But had I gotten the treadmill, I would have been like, no, it’s cold. I can’t watch my movies. You know, and cross country skiing. I mean, there were days it was like three degrees out, and it was totally sunny, and nobody was out. It was making fresh tracks. It was amazing.
Lane Hickenbottom 21:18
Yes, yeah. So we were just discussing during your headshot session that I discovered this winter. And I’ve done it a little bit in the past, but winter hiking, especially after fresh snow. Yeah, family just we all we put on our snow clothes, our snow boots, bundle up. And it’s just so much that the sensation is way different in the winter. There’s a peacefulness there’s a quiet, you don’t have to share the trails if anybody
Carri Lyons 21:48
No, no. And, and that is like that is something that is really like nature’s secret that, that, you know, you’re like I’m experienced by it’s nobody else out here. And it is fun. And you do build up sweat, so you’re not freezing at all, you know? And it’s like the same thing where, you know, people are like, Oh, I’m not gonna run out there. It’s cold. I’m like one of those people too. But the same time I’m like, That’s bullshit carry because I go skiing, I go skiing when it’s 20 degrees out. And I was like, What do you mean, I can’t run outside? Like a warm up. So yeah, so it’s really, you know, being outside and enjoying nature and doing those things really changes your perspective, especially when you’re going to do all season long.
Lane Hickenbottom 22:30
Yeah, and if you’re experiencing What’s it called? seasonal?
Carri Lyons 22:35
Yeah, seasonal affective disorder. Is that right? seasonal effectiveness disorder. That’s the sad one. Yes.
Lane Hickenbottom 22:45
It’s gloomy and I don’t want to do anything.
Carri Lyons 22:47
Yeah, exactly. So then. So when we moved Omaha three years ago, we moved from Utah to Omaha, where we lived between 20 and 40 minutes by seven ski resorts. Okay, so we moved to Omaha, I was like skiing sucks here. I’m never gonna go outside. It was a horrible, and, you know, I was just in a really bad place to do that until this past summer. I was like, I’m gone. I’m buying cross country skis, because I need to do something. You know, if I can’t be in the mountains, at least I can still try to enjoy winter as much as I can and go hiking and cross country skiing and it kind of really saved my life.
Lane Hickenbottom 23:30
Now from a word from our sponsor, Crescent Ski Resort.
Carri Lyons 23:37
Yeah, they’re so fun. They’re super, super fun. Because we brought her daughter out this year to go skiing because when we moved from Utah, she was three. And then. Yeah, so that was a lot of fun to get her out there and be like, hey, let’s do this. And we go back to Utah. She could be like, I’m like you’re learning how to ski. You’ve heard definitely serving, I guess that she has no choice. Because if we’re like, if you’re going to hang with us, you got to learn how to do this stuff. So I call our family, the -ing family or the hiking and biking and running and skiing and paddleboarding family.
Lane Hickenbottom 24:08
That’s just like, you don’t have to get up and do push ups. Great outdoor fun.
Carri Lyons 24:17
Yeah. Yeah, and that’s a huge thing. Also, um, you know, when it comes to weight loss, you know, it, that is where that diet comes in. Like if you don’t use working out as an excuse to eat, you know, because that’s what we do. And so when we look at weight loss, you know, then we work out we look at them, it’s two separate beings as far as I worked out, therefore, I can earn what I’m gonna eat, and you’re totally contradicting what you are trying to do and that’s losing weight. And so it but I mean, I’m guilty of it too. I mean, when you You know, when we’re out, and we’re like, I’m going to go on a 50 mile bike ride, 60 mile bike ride, you’re like, dang, I earned these calories, I am going to eat whatever I want. But if you do that consistently and continuously, you were not going to lose weight. So that’s where the weight loss comes into play with the science of, you know, eating healthier, along with the getting fit, you know, and, and being physical, you want to marry those two things together.
Lane Hickenbottom 25:28
So let’s say I’m, I’m a mom, I’m in my 30s, or 40s, I’m done having children. And, you know, I, when I look at myself in the mirror, I’m, I’m just not seeing the, the body of the person who, who I envisioned when I was younger, who I thought I’d be, talk to that person who is just maybe stuck in whatever rut, feeling how they’re feeling.
Carri Lyons 26:00
It Yeah, it’s, um, so it’s, wherever you are, I always tell my clients, when I do a discovery call, wherever people are, is where you are, and just accept that that’s where you or congratulate you to be like, that’s exactly where you are, that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be. And I have clients that want to lose 50 6070 pounds, so their body has changed, you know, quite a bit. And you know, you’re not going to be that 20 year old person anymore, especially after you’ve had kids, especially for women, because our fat cells are formed, where we are going to carry fat around our thighs, or our stomachs areas, our bottoms, and we look at that we’re like, oh, you know, I have curves. And, you know, for the most people, for the most part, women have such a hard time with that, you know, I’m not doing liposuction, I’m not going to change your body at all, I am going to teach you how to lose that weight, and keep it off. And if you if you do end up losing so much weight that you feel like that you’re going to get that body back, that’s great. But what my goal is, is to teach people how to become healthy, be healthy, get down to their, their goal, and I don’t want to say goal weight, but it’s more like I want to lose 50 pounds. Great. And then we adjust it as as you go on, there is hope there’s always hope that you can look at and start changing those ways. The get thin, quick program, like liposuction CoolSculpting is not an end all for everybody. Because what’s happening is that those fat cells are being removed, but they’re predominantly going to be moved from the areas that are bothersome. But if you don’t change your diet, you can end up gaining weight in your arms, you know, in areas that fat wasn’t removed. So, so enjoy the shape of your body, and feel good about yourself. And, and, and let’s work together on seeing where you want to go with your weight loss. And sometimes people might say I want to be 50 pounds lighter. And that just may not be something that most clients, most of my clients want to lose like 30 pounds, I’m like, do you want to lose 30 pounds, and they’re like, I wish I wish I could lose 15 and then they lose 25 and they’re like, Oh my gosh, I could do this, they never thought that they could do it. They think of it kind of going wow, I never thought that something like this would work. Because I’ve tried so many times. And it’s so surprising for them to be like wow, that really does work. And I’m gonna keep going like this because I know it works. And I love giving people the tools to keep going three or four months out, I don’t want to work with clients forever, honestly, because then that just becomes tiresome, I’m gonna give people the tools to be like, if you do this a lot and keep doing it, then it you know, you’re going to see some progress. Um, I don’t want to teach skills to be like, Oh my gosh, you lost a ton of weight. And now what you have no idea how to lose weight at all. I want to give people the skills to teach them like how to change certain things. And you know, my program could work for an entire year for someone, but for someone else, it could work for three months and then their body slows down each person is different in their own body. And people just have to understand that like, you know, I think a lot of times we traject General generalization generalizations about body type, but each body doesn’t subscribe to those generalizations.
Lane Hickenbottom 29:55
What does it mean to people when when they find success? In losing weight, what’s the benefit?
Carri Lyons 30:06
One, it’s going to be their their joy. That is the number one is just their attitude. And I grew up as an overweight teenager, I’ve struggled with weight, my, you know, total, like, late teenage life. And then, you know, I’m gonna say until now, because it’s always there. And what might that what that means is that for women is that I have struggled with this is that their weight takes over their brain, it is always a problem to them. And it’s something that’s always going to be a problem, and they can never get rid of it. So when they lose weight is like the clouds have parted, the gray skies have gone away and the sun comes out. And that is what it’s like to them to be like, wow, I feel so good about that, not only on their health, but you know, a lot of times they have more energy, they can run with their kids, they can get out on the ground, they’re more active, they want to do things more, and they have more of a confidence and an excitement within them. So for me, it’s not about just like lose weight. It’s like, Oh, my gosh, remove this cloud over my head that makes me feel so miserable. That is what I’m helping clients do. And they want to feel so good forever, that they’ll keep doing these principles and practices every day. Because they they know what it’s like to feel so horrible in their own in their own lives and their diet, that they want to continue on that positive effect of feeling like they have rays of sunshine all day long.
Lane Hickenbottom 31:46
Fantastic. before we sign off and tell people where they can find you. You’ve got a five day restart coming up here at the end of March.
Carri Lyons 31:56
Yeah.
Lane Hickenbottom 31:57
Do you want to tell people about that?
Carri Lyons 31:59
Yeah, it’s gonna be a free five day kickstart. And I’m doing it the week. I haven’t looked at the dates yet. But it’s going to be the week before Easter. And then I’m going to kick off, kick off his signature program, but the five day restart, it’s kind of like, okay, let’s get back to doing things like the basic principle, the number one principle I teach is drinking water because no one drinks enough water period. And I know that people are like, Hey, you drink too much water. I’m like, No, you can’t drink too much water. What that is, the most important thing when it comes to our bodies is having that water, because you you’re basically going to flush everything out, that’s going to be bad for your system. And then we’re going to kick start, you know, kind of getting back into that habit of like eating really, really great things. And then teaching some tools on why you may not want to eat certain things, or whatnot, and why maybe eating too many carbs are bad, or looking at alcohol, and some mindset things as well, to help with that and help people self esteem. So we’re going to kick that off at the end of March, and then kick into our signature program after Easter.
Lane Hickenbottom 33:14
Fantastic, you guys. She’s just a wonderful person. Carri Lyons, I really appreciate you being on my show. And for Getting AheadShot folks out there, I encourage you to check check out Carrie. She’s got a Facebook Live that she does. So you just want to friend her?
Carri Lyons 33:36
Yes. Because they’re actually pretty funny.
Lane Hickenbottom 33:39
They’re pretty funny. You know, one of the fun things about Carrie is she’s not afraid to laugh at herself, laughter is always there.
Carri Lyons 33:49
I know, send me a friend request. And I know that sounds so like, Oh, don’t you I have a business page. Yes, I have a business page. But that’s boring. Like, I want to know who you are. I really want to know who you are. So send me a friend request and be like, Hey, I heard you with Lane. So I know who you are. Because I you know, I want to connect with you. And if you know anybody that is just really feeling down in the dumps and just overwhelmed with their way you know, I want to help them because it’s you know, it just reveling in that ray of sunshine of their help and whatnot is just an amazing, amazing, amazing dream.
Lane Hickenbottom 34:27
Well, thank you for helping my audience. Get on that journey. And look forward to what’s to come from you think
Carri Lyons 34:37
I know. I know. Well, my head shot me excited. Alright, thank you.
Lane Hickenbottom 34:43
Thank you, Carri.
Announcer 34:49
Thanks for listening to the Getting AheadShot podcast recorded inside the Omaha headshot company studio to support the podcast share it with others posted added on social media or leave a five star review to learn more go to Getting aheadshot.com. We look forward to seeing you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Announcer 0:02
Welcome to Getting AheadShot. a show for anybody wanting to get ahead in life. Join conversations between international award winning photographer Lane Hickenbottom and his clients who while Getting AheadShot offer relatable tips and strategies on a variety of topics, and now here’s lane.
Lane Hickenbottom 0:24
Hey everybody. Today’s guest is a total ray of sunshine. throughout her life, she lights up dark times to find a more optimistic outlook for herself and her family. After spending 25 years in corporate positions, she took a huge leap, creating her own consulting business coaching people to find their spark their health and their happiness. Carrie Lyons is a health and empowerment coach and the founder of victory lane health coaching. She is a weight loss expert, published author, motivational speaker, two time cancer survivor, Angel mommy to a stillborn baby, a six time marathoner, a long distance cyclist, wife and mother to a beautiful Ethiopian little girl. Her most recent feat was summiting Pikes Peak on a bike. And I’m almost worn out just listing all of her accomplishments. But I know this conversation is gonna energize me right back up. Carrie Lyons, thanks so much for joining this show.
Carri Lyons 1:26
Thank you so much for having me. And it’s so fun to be here today.
Lane Hickenbottom 1:31
It has been fun, you guys. So she came in for a headshot session. And I was telling I don’t think I’ve spent this much time not shooting we spent so much time talking. It she’s, she’s just one of those people that you want to talk to so much fun.
Carri Lyons 1:51
I was so much fun to like, share stories with you. So I’m just glad you were opening to listening.
Lane Hickenbottom 2:00
Fun, fun, I wouldn’t say morning. But we’re well into the afternoon now. So Carri talk to me, let’s first start off as a health and empowerment coach, what is it that you do?
Carri Lyons 2:13
So I’m in a light mode, I empower people to find their joy. And I do that by showing women how to lose excess body fat. Because for myself, I know that when I don’t feel good, when I don’t feel healthy, then I lose my joy and I lose my sunshine. So if I’m the only one that I’m not the only one that feels like that, and I love empowering women on how they can find that within themselves. So that’s what I do. So basically, I help women lose weight with a little science and a lot of motivation.
Lane Hickenbottom 2:50
A little science and a lot of motivation. So digging a little deeper on that. Let’s go with it. Let’s start with the science and then kind of talk about the motivation.
Carri Lyons 3:01
So there’s so many different ways that you can approach losing weight, and so many of them work and what most of us want is a get, you know, get thin quickly, type program, but honestly, overall, the your overall weight and whatnot, it’s going to catch up to you. So, um, so I can teach this science and you know, teach people more about that. But what really keeps you going is understanding the vision and the motivation behind it to be like, keep going to get your goals. But you know, if you just look at weight loss as a goal to start and a goal that end, and don’t make it more rounded, like a lifestyle change, you’re just going to go back and gain all that weight back. And it’s going to catch up to you eventually. So my sole client is done having kids and I focus on women specifically, being a cancer survivor myself, but because your body changes with hormones, and I can completely attest to that. So I help women specifically so and I teach people very basic ways to lose weight that anybody can do it’s not this huge plan where you have to you know, change your whole life or you know, subscribe to me kind of diet it’s just changing things thought by thought little by little.
Lane Hickenbottom 4:34
Very good. And and so the motivation part of it what what does that look like for your clients?
Carri Lyons 4:41
So the motivation is to keep going with so my clients are not clients that want to lose 5 -10 pounds. They’re ones that have felt like their weight has been an issue their whole life for them, and they don’t know. You know how they can incorporate those practices into their daily life. So I help them, you know, with that going, this is what we can do to make that change for you. So when you do reach your goal weight, you feel so good that you don’t want to go back to those old habits and those poor eating habits. So, you know, my goal is to help, you know, teach women that one, you don’t need to kill yourself at the gym. You know, like I said before, you don’t need to subscribe to a certain diet, you don’t need to become all keto and paleo, and whatnot. And so and just helping people kind of make small changes to a really big change in their life.
Lane Hickenbottom 5:39
Yeah, so. So let’s, let’s talk about some, some tips, some strategies that if if I was one of those people who, who you were looking to help and you know, just being honest, I’ve I’ve had times my life when what I’ve gotten into obese stage, what are some of the first things you encourage me to do?
Carri Lyons 6:03
So what I do is allow one, what’s the first thing that we do when like January 1 comes, it’s like, I’m going to join the gym, and I’m going to get back into it. And I’m going to get done eating with whatever, you know, over eating. So and that doesn’t just happen in January, that happens in all seasons, like we’re pretty much all there in the past year, look at COVID. I mean, how many people’s diets changed within that. So there’s a time that you want to do a hard reset to be like, I’m done, I’m going to reset this and go back to you know, eating healthy and whatnot. But also understand that there’s going to be a time to splurge too. And not giving in to that I’m going to splurge now forever, because what’s going to happen in like five years is that you’re going to be like, okay, now I need to I’ve splurged so much, now I need to go back to, you know, dieting again, and really keeping that in play. So for example, you know, I just got back from Hawaii yesterday. But before we left for Hawaii, I did not drink any alcohol for 45 days. And I want to continue on that. And I set in place rules for myself to, to follow to say if I’m going to stick with this, but I’m going to enjoy vacation. Where am I going to like fall off the wagon, I guess. So I set boundaries for myself to say if I’m on vacation, I’ve never been to Hawaii, it’s our 20th wedding anniversary, I’m going to allow myself to drink alcohol while on vacation. While on Hawaii, I cannot be at the airport in Seattle drinking, I cannot be drinking on the plane. You know, I cannot be in Oman at the airport, it was like in Hawaii that was that. And then I’m done. So when seeking like setting your boundaries, you know, for you, it could be like, okay, it’s just o’clock every night, I’m not going to eat. So that would be one boundary. To help within that. It could be like, Okay, I’m not going to have you know, dessert anymore. If that is something that you do on a daily basis, or I’m not going to run out and have coffee every single day and kind of taking, looking at your own daily life and saying what it is that’s unhealthy to you and moving away from that. And it could be just breaking the habit, you know, like going to Starbucks every day for coffee is a habit for some people. And it could just be like, taking that out. You know, drinking alcohol for a lot of people could be one. And that’s, that’s one reason why I just stopped drinking alcohol completely. It was never like out of hand or anything. But I just felt like it was just kind of a gray area that I felt like for me to gain more clarity. I was like, I’m just not gonna drink alcohol. I really felt like I was in this like fog. And, you know, you could say that has nothing to do with health and weight. But it it did. And I could tell when I was in Hawaii and I started drinking, like how much more it affected me. But now that, you know, I’m back, I’m like, Okay, I’m not drinking. And it was funny because you and I just talked about this because you would have some beverages in your studio, which I am like, that’s awesome. But I was like, I know, I don’t drink. I’m not doing that. And and and i think that that might be a big thing for people is drinking alcohol, especially for guys to maybe give up. You know. So that’s kind of like a taboo subject. So I’m just gonna leave it there. But that was like something for me that I needed to do for myself and set boundaries with that. So so one would be looking at your own life and saying what is one thing that you could change that you wanted to get better at? What’s a habit that you could break to help improve, you know, your health? It could be something like, I’m gonna go walking every day for one hour. You know, maybe it could be adding in a habit that is healthy and taking one out, making those small changes.
Lane Hickenbottom 9:59
Yeah. And then as we were discussing about, yeah, like he said, I’ve got beverages in my studio that happens. But when there is a part of a culture, a lot of people’s culture, I’m certainly guilty of this is just glorifying alcohol isn’t there? And so person wouldn’t necessarily have to cut it out. But maybe
Carri Lyons 10:23
Cut back.
Lane Hickenbottom 10:23
Yeah, just kind of.
Carri Lyons 10:24
Yeah,
Lane Hickenbottom 10:25
Rexamined the way that you look at it.
Carri Lyons 10:27
Yeah, and actually, I do have some clients that when we first start, you know, they’ll say, I’m drinking wine every night. And you know, like, look at what happened with COVID, that totally happened, you know, where it was, like, oh, we’re gonna have happy hour on zoom. And it was kind of like this release to get through, like, we’re still gonna have happy hour. And then a year later, people are like, Huh, I just gained 15 pounds, where did that come from? And it was like a small habit that started. So now we want to go back and change that. And I’ve had a few people saying, You’re not going to drink alcohol. I’m like, No, I have purposely set a goal of mine to say, I’m not going to do that. And it is glorious. It is glorified. It is and you really have to be, have truth in yourself to stick to that. But also understanding that, you know, I’m not going to, you know, if someone says, Yeah, but I still want to drink alcohol, then I could say, Okay, let’s cut back and only do it maybe one night a week instead of every night after work, or whatever it is. And really helping your body with that, because by drinking out alcohol honestly, is that it’s going to slow down your process, it will slow down your process, depending on how much weight you want to lose. And, and some people can buy into that some people, it doesn’t affect them at all. And some people, it affects them a lot. So you have to look at each person to be like, how is that affecting you another common thing that people drink that I see a lot that’s not alcohol is like your energy drinks. So and so we don’t really think like, oh, they’re really, really bad, they give us energy. But at the same time, they’re so filled with caffeine and sugar, that it can build plaque around your heart and really cause huge, like, heart attacks for young people. We don’t even think about that at all. And you know, I’ve seen the evidence I’ve seen people actually like die because they have so much plaque around their hearts. And so that’s just something else that we kind of look at that don’t isn’t a big deal, but it but it’s a big deal, it can totally, you know, cause things that you would not even see otherwise, like going back to alcohol, it causes a fatty liver, eating really high fat food, it causes, you know, the fatty liver as well. So these are things that in your 30s you may not even think about but it can completely catch up to you in your 40s and 50s. Which I know that I was one of those people I was infallible.
Lane Hickenbottom 12:57
So you mentioned like maybe building up positive habit, perhaps taking a walk an hour a day? What were some of those physical activity strategies that
Carri Lyons 13:13
you know, this is so funny because, you know, like from my bio, it’s a quite a long distance cyclist and I run marathons and you know, run my bike up to the top of Pikes Peak. Well, there was a time that that I had cancer surgery, there was a time where my stomach was completely open, I had 14 staples, and I could not run. I couldn’t. So what I do I in there like you can’t do stairs. Okay, so I lived in a condo that every day I was like I’m gonna get out and go walk. And I’m gonna make that walk longer than the day before. So by the time that I was able to drive again, by the time that I could get back and do stairs, I had pretty much walked a mile a day. And this is someone that couldn’t so if you so I’m imagining someone that hopefully can hear this that you don’t need to sign on at the gym, you don’t need to go out and run every day like walking is one of the best exercises that you can do if you are not already working out and you can do it anywhere you could do it at home you can pull up videos on YouTube and people that do walking exercises. So So don’t think of like exercise as this huge CrossFit you know kickboxing thing if you want to do that. That’s fine. But you know walking is one of those things that you can absolutely do anywhere and get it done and and I find inspiration from my clients this summer she and I started working together and she’s like I have little kids at home I can’t go you know walk at five o’clock in the morning because you know if they get up in the morning like I’m gonna be there you know and you just have to look at see okay, what can you do because cuz walking is something that is in everyone’s wheelhouse.
Lane Hickenbottom 15:04
Yeah, speaking of early mornings, do you recall where and what time of day it was that you and I met?
Carri Lyons 15:13
When we would run together? Wasn’t it? 6am? Right. Yeah.
Lane Hickenbottom 15:19
In the winter,
Carri Lyons 15:21
in the winter, and it was late fall, I suppose. You know, it was starting to be winter wheat started in December, and then you and I both got injured. And then COVID happened, so we never started it up again. Yeah. And that’s kind of hard to do. And especially, I need to start that up again. Now that it, you know, like COVID is slowly opening up some things, you know, but you know, with school, you know, I have a seven year old and so with school and everything, trying to make that work, I was like, Okay, this is gonna happen. So we’ll make that for some other time. But yeah, it was really interesting is that when COVID went down, our daughter when she was two, we’re like, we’re getting you a bike. You don’t even you can’t even walk yet, basically. But you were getting a bike. And, and it was amazing. And so we’ve always been biking people, but it was amazing to see how many people have been outside in the past year going hiking, or biking or how they can’t hold on to bikes. And I love that. I mean, I think that’s so amazing. So if you do have a family, and they are young, get them on bikes, you know, teach them how to ride a bike, by the time that they are like three, you know, go out for a hike, go look at new trails, you can find trails, whatever city that you’re in, and just get out and do something active, if you want to look at exercise, as far as a way to lose weight, do it consistently, at least five times a day, and do it for at least a half hour at a time. So maybe that would be a time to not do it with your kids. But you know, get up earlier and do YouTube or some home video or something to get that workout in for you to get that done.
Lane Hickenbottom 17:04
Yeah, but you know, that’s a really good point, too, is for for people who have busy family lives, it’s not like you have to find my exercise time. While while the kids are doing their thing you can do family things like going for walks
Carri Lyons 17:22
Yeah. Oh, you know, and then what we’ll do is that we’ll there’s a mountain biking trail by our neighborhood. And then we’ll go with the family. And sometimes I might say, you know what, I’m gonna go for a run, and then they’ll ride bikes, or whatever it is. But I love the fact that we’re like teaching her our seven year old ways to be active. And as an adult, as you know, someone, we’re I’m almost 58 realize that nature is one of my highest values, being outside and being in nature is absolutely one of my highest values and to teach her. You know, it’s like, we want to teach her that even though she complains about it, we’re still teaching her, you know, doing things to her ability, and teaching her that value of being outside and breathing in fresh air.
Lane Hickenbottom 18:10
Yeah, fantastic. And so when when somebody is my own experience, it, it’s really easy, relatively easy to continue a practice routine. It’s much harder to start one, isn’t it? Yeah. And so how do you get over that hump?
Carri Lyons 18:36
Okay. So, a lot of times people will say, I don’t have the motivation to do XYZ, whatever it is, I don’t have the motivation to look at my diet or to join a plan. I don’t have motivation to go out and exercise. And the thing is, is that motivation is, it’s a robbery of you your feelings, because it’s not motivation that you need, it’s you taking the action to get the motivation. So once you’re out and about, you know, every day walking or running, or whatever it is, you’re going to do so many everyday that you’re going to say, yeah, I’m gonna do it. And then that morning comes, let’s say that you’re going to go run at 6am. And, you know, you’re like, Oh, my God, I want to stay in bed. The motivation is not there. Of course, it’s not there. Nobody wants to get out of bed when it’s warm. Okay, so the motivation comes when you’re in mile one or mile two, or when you’re outside, that is where the motivation comes. The motivation comes after the fact. And once you do it more than you’re going to see that motivation coming earlier and earlier, but straight on that motivation is not there and it feels like it’s pulling teeth.
Lane Hickenbottom 19:51
I can kind of relate just being in and out of good exercise routines throughout my life. Probably a lot more out And then in but there’s certainly times when when you get almost Well, yeah, you absolutely get addicted to those good habits. Almost the same as you get addicted to bad habits and so much better habits to get addicted to, aren’t they?
Carri Lyons 20:17
Right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. And one of them for me is that for years I’ve been telling my husband that I want a treadmill. And then I saw that treadmill that peloton makes and I was like, I love that one. It’s like $4,000 or something like, you know, incredible. And so I was like, I want a treadmill, I want to do it really want a treadmill. But if I got a treadmill at home, I would get so used to it because I’m such a creature of habit is I would never want to go outside. I would be like, why would I want to go out there? It’s warm and safe in this environment. And it’s controlled. And I would never ever want to go outside and experience nature, you know, so. So that was like one habit that I changed. So this past summer, I bought cross country skis. And so this winter, this hellacious winter, I was like, I’m going out and I’m gonna go cross country skiing. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But had I gotten the treadmill, I would have been like, no, it’s cold. I can’t watch my movies. You know, and cross country skiing. I mean, there were days it was like three degrees out, and it was totally sunny, and nobody was out. It was making fresh tracks. It was amazing.
Lane Hickenbottom 21:18
Yes, yeah. So we were just discussing during your headshot session that I discovered this winter. And I’ve done it a little bit in the past, but winter hiking, especially after fresh snow. Yeah, family just we all we put on our snow clothes, our snow boots, bundle up. And it’s just so much that the sensation is way different in the winter. There’s a peacefulness there’s a quiet, you don’t have to share the trails if anybody
Carri Lyons 21:48
No, no. And, and that is like that is something that is really like nature’s secret that, that, you know, you’re like I’m experienced by it’s nobody else out here. And it is fun. And you do build up sweat, so you’re not freezing at all, you know? And it’s like the same thing where, you know, people are like, Oh, I’m not gonna run out there. It’s cold. I’m like one of those people too. But the same time I’m like, That’s bullshit carry because I go skiing, I go skiing when it’s 20 degrees out. And I was like, What do you mean, I can’t run outside? Like a warm up. So yeah, so it’s really, you know, being outside and enjoying nature and doing those things really changes your perspective, especially when you’re going to do all season long.
Lane Hickenbottom 22:30
Yeah, and if you’re experiencing What’s it called? seasonal?
Carri Lyons 22:35
Yeah, seasonal affective disorder. Is that right? seasonal effectiveness disorder. That’s the sad one. Yes.
Lane Hickenbottom 22:45
It’s gloomy and I don’t want to do anything.
Carri Lyons 22:47
Yeah, exactly. So then. So when we moved Omaha three years ago, we moved from Utah to Omaha, where we lived between 20 and 40 minutes by seven ski resorts. Okay, so we moved to Omaha, I was like skiing sucks here. I’m never gonna go outside. It was a horrible, and, you know, I was just in a really bad place to do that until this past summer. I was like, I’m gone. I’m buying cross country skis, because I need to do something. You know, if I can’t be in the mountains, at least I can still try to enjoy winter as much as I can and go hiking and cross country skiing and it kind of really saved my life.
Lane Hickenbottom 23:30
Now from a word from our sponsor, Crescent Ski Resort.
Carri Lyons 23:37
Yeah, they’re so fun. They’re super, super fun. Because we brought her daughter out this year to go skiing because when we moved from Utah, she was three. And then. Yeah, so that was a lot of fun to get her out there and be like, hey, let’s do this. And we go back to Utah. She could be like, I’m like you’re learning how to ski. You’ve heard definitely serving, I guess that she has no choice. Because if we’re like, if you’re going to hang with us, you got to learn how to do this stuff. So I call our family, the -ing family or the hiking and biking and running and skiing and paddleboarding family.
Lane Hickenbottom 24:08
That’s just like, you don’t have to get up and do push ups. Great outdoor fun.
Carri Lyons 24:17
Yeah. Yeah, and that’s a huge thing. Also, um, you know, when it comes to weight loss, you know, it, that is where that diet comes in. Like if you don’t use working out as an excuse to eat, you know, because that’s what we do. And so when we look at weight loss, you know, then we work out we look at them, it’s two separate beings as far as I worked out, therefore, I can earn what I’m gonna eat, and you’re totally contradicting what you are trying to do and that’s losing weight. And so it but I mean, I’m guilty of it too. I mean, when you You know, when we’re out, and we’re like, I’m going to go on a 50 mile bike ride, 60 mile bike ride, you’re like, dang, I earned these calories, I am going to eat whatever I want. But if you do that consistently and continuously, you were not going to lose weight. So that’s where the weight loss comes into play with the science of, you know, eating healthier, along with the getting fit, you know, and, and being physical, you want to marry those two things together.
Lane Hickenbottom 25:28
So let’s say I’m, I’m a mom, I’m in my 30s, or 40s, I’m done having children. And, you know, I, when I look at myself in the mirror, I’m, I’m just not seeing the, the body of the person who, who I envisioned when I was younger, who I thought I’d be, talk to that person who is just maybe stuck in whatever rut, feeling how they’re feeling.
Carri Lyons 26:00
It Yeah, it’s, um, so it’s, wherever you are, I always tell my clients, when I do a discovery call, wherever people are, is where you are, and just accept that that’s where you or congratulate you to be like, that’s exactly where you are, that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be. And I have clients that want to lose 50 6070 pounds, so their body has changed, you know, quite a bit. And you know, you’re not going to be that 20 year old person anymore, especially after you’ve had kids, especially for women, because our fat cells are formed, where we are going to carry fat around our thighs, or our stomachs areas, our bottoms, and we look at that we’re like, oh, you know, I have curves. And, you know, for the most people, for the most part, women have such a hard time with that, you know, I’m not doing liposuction, I’m not going to change your body at all, I am going to teach you how to lose that weight, and keep it off. And if you if you do end up losing so much weight that you feel like that you’re going to get that body back, that’s great. But what my goal is, is to teach people how to become healthy, be healthy, get down to their, their goal, and I don’t want to say goal weight, but it’s more like I want to lose 50 pounds. Great. And then we adjust it as as you go on, there is hope there’s always hope that you can look at and start changing those ways. The get thin, quick program, like liposuction CoolSculpting is not an end all for everybody. Because what’s happening is that those fat cells are being removed, but they’re predominantly going to be moved from the areas that are bothersome. But if you don’t change your diet, you can end up gaining weight in your arms, you know, in areas that fat wasn’t removed. So, so enjoy the shape of your body, and feel good about yourself. And, and, and let’s work together on seeing where you want to go with your weight loss. And sometimes people might say I want to be 50 pounds lighter. And that just may not be something that most clients, most of my clients want to lose like 30 pounds, I’m like, do you want to lose 30 pounds, and they’re like, I wish I wish I could lose 15 and then they lose 25 and they’re like, Oh my gosh, I could do this, they never thought that they could do it. They think of it kind of going wow, I never thought that something like this would work. Because I’ve tried so many times. And it’s so surprising for them to be like wow, that really does work. And I’m gonna keep going like this because I know it works. And I love giving people the tools to keep going three or four months out, I don’t want to work with clients forever, honestly, because then that just becomes tiresome, I’m gonna give people the tools to be like, if you do this a lot and keep doing it, then it you know, you’re going to see some progress. Um, I don’t want to teach skills to be like, Oh my gosh, you lost a ton of weight. And now what you have no idea how to lose weight at all. I want to give people the skills to teach them like how to change certain things. And you know, my program could work for an entire year for someone, but for someone else, it could work for three months and then their body slows down each person is different in their own body. And people just have to understand that like, you know, I think a lot of times we traject General generalization generalizations about body type, but each body doesn’t subscribe to those generalizations.
Lane Hickenbottom 29:55
What does it mean to people when when they find success? In losing weight, what’s the benefit?
Carri Lyons 30:06
One, it’s going to be their their joy. That is the number one is just their attitude. And I grew up as an overweight teenager, I’ve struggled with weight, my, you know, total, like, late teenage life. And then, you know, I’m gonna say until now, because it’s always there. And what might that what that means is that for women is that I have struggled with this is that their weight takes over their brain, it is always a problem to them. And it’s something that’s always going to be a problem, and they can never get rid of it. So when they lose weight is like the clouds have parted, the gray skies have gone away and the sun comes out. And that is what it’s like to them to be like, wow, I feel so good about that, not only on their health, but you know, a lot of times they have more energy, they can run with their kids, they can get out on the ground, they’re more active, they want to do things more, and they have more of a confidence and an excitement within them. So for me, it’s not about just like lose weight. It’s like, Oh, my gosh, remove this cloud over my head that makes me feel so miserable. That is what I’m helping clients do. And they want to feel so good forever, that they’ll keep doing these principles and practices every day. Because they they know what it’s like to feel so horrible in their own in their own lives and their diet, that they want to continue on that positive effect of feeling like they have rays of sunshine all day long.
Lane Hickenbottom 31:46
Fantastic. before we sign off and tell people where they can find you. You’ve got a five day restart coming up here at the end of March.
Carri Lyons 31:56
Yeah.
Lane Hickenbottom 31:57
Do you want to tell people about that?
Carri Lyons 31:59
Yeah, it’s gonna be a free five day kickstart. And I’m doing it the week. I haven’t looked at the dates yet. But it’s going to be the week before Easter. And then I’m going to kick off, kick off his signature program, but the five day restart, it’s kind of like, okay, let’s get back to doing things like the basic principle, the number one principle I teach is drinking water because no one drinks enough water period. And I know that people are like, Hey, you drink too much water. I’m like, No, you can’t drink too much water. What that is, the most important thing when it comes to our bodies is having that water, because you you’re basically going to flush everything out, that’s going to be bad for your system. And then we’re going to kick start, you know, kind of getting back into that habit of like eating really, really great things. And then teaching some tools on why you may not want to eat certain things, or whatnot, and why maybe eating too many carbs are bad, or looking at alcohol, and some mindset things as well, to help with that and help people self esteem. So we’re going to kick that off at the end of March, and then kick into our signature program after Easter.
Lane Hickenbottom 33:14
Fantastic, you guys. She’s just a wonderful person. Carri Lyons, I really appreciate you being on my show. And for Getting AheadShot folks out there, I encourage you to check check out Carrie. She’s got a Facebook Live that she does. So you just want to friend her?
Carri Lyons 33:36
Yes. Because they’re actually pretty funny.
Lane Hickenbottom 33:39
They’re pretty funny. You know, one of the fun things about Carrie is she’s not afraid to laugh at herself, laughter is always there.
Carri Lyons 33:49
I know, send me a friend request. And I know that sounds so like, Oh, don’t you I have a business page. Yes, I have a business page. But that’s boring. Like, I want to know who you are. I really want to know who you are. So send me a friend request and be like, Hey, I heard you with Lane. So I know who you are. Because I you know, I want to connect with you. And if you know anybody that is just really feeling down in the dumps and just overwhelmed with their way you know, I want to help them because it’s you know, it just reveling in that ray of sunshine of their help and whatnot is just an amazing, amazing, amazing dream.
Lane Hickenbottom 34:27
Well, thank you for helping my audience. Get on that journey. And look forward to what’s to come from you think
Carri Lyons 34:37
I know. I know. Well, my head shot me excited. Alright, thank you.
Lane Hickenbottom 34:43
Thank you, Carri.
Announcer 34:49
Thanks for listening to the Getting AheadShot podcast recorded inside the Omaha headshot company studio to support the podcast share it with others posted added on social media or leave a five star review to learn more go to Getting aheadshot.com. We look forward to seeing you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
