What if just a few minutes each day could transform your wellness journey? 

In this episode, we dive into the impact of the 100-Day Pillars Challenge and how BariNation members embraced the four key pillars—movement, mindset, metabolic wellness, and community. The members share their takeaways, from small daily habits that created lasting change to the surprising insights that reshaped their approach to health. Whether learning about gut health, rethinking nutrition, or finding sustainable ways to stay engaged, this challenge proved that progress isn’t about perfection but consistency. Tune in for an inspiring discussion, and check out the BariNation Community to discover how the community can aid you on your bariatric journey.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• (00:00) Opening and introduction
• (00:29) BariNation members discuss what they took away from the 100-Day Pillar Challenge
• (03:22) BariNation members discuss why they started the challenge
• (06:11) The revelations that were learned on the challenge
• (12:40) What aspects of the 100-Day Pillar Challenge will be a part of their continued journey?
• (18:51) Visit BariNation to join a community of resources that will empower your wellness journey 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The 100-Day Pillars Challenge aimed to deliver small, digestible knowledge each morning, offering quick insights on key wellness pillars. These micro-learnings, ranging from one to five minutes, provided a daily boost of wisdom while encouraging deeper exploration through linked research and articles. The challenge helped participants push past the typical short-term engagement of most challenges and commit to a long-term exploration of movement, mindset, metabolic wellness, and community. 
• The challenge encouraged members to embrace what worked for them rather than feeling pressured to do everything perfectly. Christine highlighted how she engaged with daily readings without necessarily journaling, and Cece found value in bookmarking resources for ongoing learning.
• A significant insight for many participants was the impact of gut health on emotions and overall well-being. Learning about ultra-processed foods and tools like the Nova app will shift perspectives on nutrition and metabolic wellness.

RESOURCES:

• BariNation Website 
• Join the BariNation Membership community meetups to support you on your journey with obesity treatment. https://barination.com/pages/join-our-community
• Want to see bonus content? Head over to https://www.patreon.com/BariNationPodcast to get more and support the podcast for as low as $5 per month!    

GUEST RESOURCES:

@geriatricbariatric

@cmbkny

BIOGRAPHY: 

Christine Mason

Christine Mason had Bariatric surgery in January 2021, once she fully realized that her metabolic disorder was not something she could control with restrictive dieting and excessive exercise. She joined the BariNation Membership Community in its early days and has attended at least one support group a week for 3 years and plans on keeping that commitment to herself going. In addition to running two Strategy, Marketing and Media consultancies, she also serves as the Chief Operating Officer of BariNation.

Cecilia Rouleau

Cece from NH. Lap Band 2009 to RNY March of 2023. Found BariNation listening to the Podcast. Been a member for 2 years and loving it!

Cherilyn Walker

I am an energetic wife, mother, roller coaster junkie , high school assistant principal and casting director who decided to ditch the diets and really honor my body by having VSG in November 2022. I've lost 112 lbs and am loving learning how to take good care of myself.

ABOUT:

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Chistine Mason: [00:00:00] Hi. Welcome to BariNation, where we support the bariatric community with humor, humility, and honesty.

Natalie Tierney: Our goal is you leave us today feeling hopeful, inspired, and ready to live your best bariatric life.

What are they and how do we live them in our lives? [00:01:00] You're hearing this podcast. On the day that our challenge is actually wrapping up. But I wanted to sit down with members of our community to understand what they really are taking away from this challenge. Because when we launched it, people were like, you're crazy.

So I'm gonna [00:01:45] turn the microphone over to them so they can quickly introduce themselves and then we're gonna get right into the questions. Cc my friend, would you like to introduce yourself?

April Williams: Not hard to believe you've been working, you've been working hard and it is showing. Thank you. Awesome. [00:02:15] Thank you Cece. Sherry, go for it.

April Williams: Oh, we're thrilled to be ing you today,

April Williams: And we're, and we're going strong now I think. I think we're definitely on three at this point. Yeah. Awesome. Alright, my friends, let's get into it. The first question I'd like to ask you is [00:03:15] why did you decide to join this crazy thing called the 100 Day Pillar Challenge? Cece, we'll start with you.

Experiencing, um, and learning about things that I didn't know would help support my, um, bariatric life in a nutshell.

Cheri Walker: I, um, I came into it needing consistency. I was the person that you mentioned at the top that would go hard for two weeks and then I'd get comfortable and then I'd like Slack off and I just kind of wanted to have [00:04:00] an accountability to myself.

Mm-hmm. Um, that this challenge offered.

Chistine Mason: Well, I originally started doing it to make sure that April uploaded it every day.

Stigma of having a metabolic disorder and obesity as a result of that metabolic disorder, that having that point in the day that you can, and I do it first thing [00:05:00] in the morning, is to have some silence around a topic that we can just spend even five minutes thinking about and reading about, and then engaging with the community about that really has been the [00:05:15] special part for me.

It can be. One of the most powerful things that we do along, along our journey. All right. Next thing I wanna know, what has been kind of the biggest aha moment, uh, during this challenge? What [00:06:00] is the thing that you were like, that absolutely is something new to me or that is something that is, that was maybe a missing piece to my journey where I am today.

Ce we'll start with you.

Um, how much, uh, the. Feed into your emotions, how it controls your emotions, and I, I truly believe the, uh, medical establishment still does not [00:06:30] understand enough of what's going on with our gut health. And the information that you put in was just, I, I've bookmarked all of it 'cause it's so important to me.

April Williams: Oh, that's awesome. And I, I think what I'd like to share with you, if, if you're watching or well, you are watching or you're listening, our, the goal of the a hundred day challenge was we wanted to present kind of tiny [00:07:00] bite-sized nuggets of information.

But the goal was every morning you were getting this little nugget of wisdom that's connected to our pillars, [00:07:30] uh, that you could, that you could utilize and. Clearly, as Cece said, it really gets our minds thinking more deeply about how we live these pillars. How do we really focus on our metabolic wellness and not just the, the number on the scale?

Cheri Walker: For me, you know, I love journals, so the guided [00:08:00] journals, the daily journals were amazing. And January 11th broke me in half and the question was, am I okay with living one pillar a day?

And you don't have to plow through to check all the boxes, like the berry checklist for the first, like I, I had to stop because [00:08:45] I'm like, it's 11 o'clock. I would wake sit, bolt upright in bed and be like, I didn't do. And so crazy. And then, like I said, January 11th, I really just. Sat with that, um, [00:09:00] uncomfortableness of let's just do one thing at a time today.

April Williams: Yeah. I [00:09:30] really appreciate you saying that. I think ev all of us on the screen, I know and many of us listening are watching or resonating with that. If we are, if we're gonna do something, we're gonna do it completely. Mm-hmm. And that can throw us off more than it helps us. So what a powerful moment for you.[00:09:45]

Awesome. Yeah,

The ability to [00:10:15] process energy effectively, um, and not have us on this rollercoaster of trying to restrict. Like, let's find the thing that we can eat the most of at the least amount of calories. So ultra processed foods were a [00:10:30] big thing. Um, it's something that I've been kind of like looking at, but not paying enough attention to.

I'm, I, that's just not me. I write everything down [00:11:00] handwritten in notes, but I'm not a journaler and I just had to allow myself to do the daily, um, reading. And not feel as if I had to do all the components. The components [00:11:15] are there in order for people to do what they're most comfortable with, not to pressure anyone to do it all.

April Williams: Mm-hmm.

April Williams: Yeah. Again, thank you for saying that. We want to provide our members with all of the tools or, or with tools [00:12:00] that could help, but our job is to present you with a menu of support and you get to choose what is gonna work best for you that day, that week, or in this season of your journey, right? So if journaling works for you now, awesome.

Or maybe something has really clicked that you're gonna carry with you for the rest of your, your life. Cece, we'll start with you.

I thought I was being good, [00:13:00] but maybe I need to look in more of the processed foods that I do eat, you know? And. You know, what alternatives can I do in place of that? Or, you know, if I can't do it [00:13:15] all the time, that's okay too. I'm not going to say no, I'm never gonna eat 'em again. But at least, um, be aware of what is in them and, um, you know, make maybe better decisions, um, for my gut health.[00:13:30]

And I was like, this has gluten. So it blew me away, but I would've never known it had I not used that app that you, um, gracious. Yeah. Told us about. So, yeah. [00:14:15] So I'm gonna be doing that down the road. Uh, really paying attention more and trying to do more Whole Foods for, for my health, for my wellbeing.

April Williams: Yep.

That's the goal of all of this, so that excites me to know that that's one of the things you're caring for. Awesome. Sherry, what [00:15:00] about you?

Cheri Walker: I think I'm going to really just be patient with myself. The imposter week was a really, like I said, I love the head work part of this. Um, that was kind of what I really dove into in the challenge was the head work.

I started scanning everything. 'cause I told you I'm a psycho and I found the same thing. I'm like, I'm never eating this again, but. What I need to do is stop swinging that pendulum to the extremes and sit in the knowing that [00:15:45] this is a moment, right, not a movement, it's just a moment, and I can be patient with myself, with whatever's coming up in that moment.

I can simply figure out how they make my body function better and lean into that, and then at the same time, make my mind match my action.

Chistine Mason: Christine. So a hundred days of anything can really feel daunting. I. But guess what?

April Williams: Mm-hmm. Are

And it was definitely concerning when we [00:17:15] launched this. Would people be able to make it through or would they just shut down because they felt like they were falling behind? This is not something that you have to keep up with the crowd. You can do it on your time and some way or another, we [00:17:30] are going to put this as, um.

April Williams: Yep. [00:18:00] We are gonna live these days no matter what. And when we launch this a hundred day challenge, that w that was our mentality, these days are gonna happen. How can we make them just a little bit more exciting educational? How can we [00:18:15] present moments in our community for people to connect on a deeper level, safe places to ask these questions and as we say, to connect, learn, and grow from one another, and the experts.

I have enjoyed learning right alongside with you. If you would like to get to know these ladies more, join them in Berry Nation. They are very active members of our community. You'll see them in support groups, classes, and meetups on the [00:19:00] feed, and they're excited to connect with you as well. You can just visit us@berrynationdotn.co.

That wraps up another empowering episode of the BariNation Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, keep the conversation going by joining the BariNation membership community where you can attend live [00:19:30] support events access. On demand resources and find a caring community.

Natalie Tierney: Join us@barrynation.mn.co.

Chistine Mason: And just remember at the end of the day, you've got this. We've got you. And we'll see you next time. Bye everybody.