Community, Compassion, and Change: Retreat Reflections
Welcome to another inspiring episode of The Weight Loss Collab Podcast! This week, your co-hosts Dr. Dovec and dietitian Hannah Schuyler are coming to you from their new, upgraded podcast studio at the surgery center—complete with luxurious vibes and lots of positive energy. In this episode, they kick things off by recapping their recent BodyByMindset retreat, which brought together patients and community members for a weekend of connection, growth, and transformation despite a few behind-the-scenes weather hiccups.
You'll hear candid reflections about the power of community events—from a rain-soaked setup that transformed into a magical Florida sunset, to meaningful icebreakers and transformative activities focused on breaking free from shame. Dr. Dovec and Hannah dive into their own retreat presentations on food guilt, mindset shifts, and the deeply personal journeys that shape their professional paths.
But that's not all—they're also unveiling exciting plans for their next big event, BodyByTransformation: The Butterfly Effect, coming May 2026 in Orlando. If you’re seeking motivation, practical strategies, or a sense of belonging on your weight loss and wellbeing journey, this episode is packed with insights, laughter, and encouragement. Plus, expect some fun personal news, a peek into their event planning process, and the ways you can get involved and take your own transformation to the next level.
Tune in for expert advice, authentic stories, and the latest updates from the passionate duo behind Body by Bariatrics and The Weight Loss Collab!
Transcript
She's a doctor. Hi, I'm Dr. Dovec and she's a
Speaker:dietitian. Hey, I'm Hannah Schuyler, and together we are
Speaker:the Weight Loss Collab. And here we are.
Speaker:We're really stepping it up. If you're watching on the Doc, the weight
Speaker:loss collab YouTube channel, we are in a
Speaker:beautiful, well lit, incredible little space
Speaker:here. I know this is fabulous. We're at the surgery center still, but it's been
Speaker:transformed into a new little podcast studio. So, yes, this is awesome.
Speaker:It feels very luxurious. It does. And we hope you enjoy it.
Speaker:And we have a lot to talk about today. Yes. We are going
Speaker:to first recap our Body by Mindset retreat we just
Speaker:had a few weeks ago in September 12th and 13th
Speaker:here. We actually had the welcoming ceremony that Friday night
Speaker:here at the Surgical Institute. It was amazing. It was
Speaker:amazing. Let's just pause and talk about that night and what we
Speaker:did and. Well, first of all, like, let's talk about that afternoon when
Speaker:it was raining. And we were all in a whole panic because the event
Speaker:was outdoors and we didn't have a tent, and we were just not really prepared
Speaker:for that. And we said, no, no, no, no. Not allowed to rain. And fortunately,
Speaker:it stopped at about 4:00'. Clock. So the behind the scenes,
Speaker:if you weren't there, or even if you were there, you would never know because
Speaker:the night ended up being, oh, my gosh, golden, gorgeous
Speaker:pink, orange sunset sky. It was stunning.
Speaker:It was one of those Florida sunsets that you just like. They're my
Speaker:favorite. They're my absolute favorite. They are being up from up north, I
Speaker:never saw that. So, like, that sunset was perfect. But before that, I. I
Speaker:got here, we operated in the morning. I came outside. They
Speaker:had the couch, they had the bar set up, they had the pink
Speaker:carpet, which is a. Which is a big thing. It's huge.
Speaker:It's really, really, really long. And all of a sudden there was like
Speaker:a cloud burst. And it was an unbelievable torrential downpour. And
Speaker:it was very, very stressful. And then we were, like, hobbling
Speaker:over. Like, we had, like, trash bags. Trying to put, like,
Speaker:that was just dumb. It just. It wasn't working. And then we try to hobble
Speaker:the couches underneath an awning. And then ultimately it cleared up very
Speaker:quickly and it didn't rain again. Yep. And it was a beautiful
Speaker:night. Shout out to everybody who worked on that because it was. There were a
Speaker:lot of hands going into that, and they did phenomenal. And like you
Speaker:said, the attendees never knew. I know about that little snuff. And they
Speaker:all came, and it made for quite the picture. We had a drone
Speaker:footage of all the attendees. And people came,
Speaker:they got their bags, they got their body by bariatrics, T shirts.
Speaker:They. We had a signature cocktail which was very bougie.
Speaker:We had our past hors d' oeuvres from puff and stuff.
Speaker:Bash Orlando is the. Our event planner that put it together. And it was just
Speaker:exactly what I wanted it to be. Yes. Chef's kiss. It was our community
Speaker:coming together, the patients being there, getting to know each
Speaker:other. We did an amazing icebreaker. We played bingo. Bingo. Yeah.
Speaker:That was really cute because everybody had to sit, say something about
Speaker:themselves and whoever, like, would fulfill that. Yes. So the
Speaker:hardest one was the vegetarian. The vegetarian, which I knew that we
Speaker:had because I had gotten everyone's preferences
Speaker:for the next. For a food. And so I was like, we have. I know
Speaker:a vegan. And I thought we had another vegetarian, but
Speaker:they maybe they didn't show. But the vegan was late. So finally, once she showed
Speaker:up, everyone could get their bingo filled. Yes. Signed
Speaker:off. So. So that was great. It was super fun. And we
Speaker:realized that people really enjoyed themselves
Speaker:and that even that starting night, I'm like, even if it ended right
Speaker:now, I knew we were onto something. And I knew
Speaker:that people crave this. They want this, they want to be part
Speaker:of something. And it was great to see our patients, some of which we
Speaker:haven't seen for a long time. And I know they lost so much weight,
Speaker:recognizable. I felt bad. I'm also terrible with it,
Speaker:but I'm like, I only ever see you in this like 1 inch box on
Speaker:a computer screen. And then all of a sudden you're here in person and it's
Speaker:been six months and you've lost £70. And I'm like, you're like a different
Speaker:person. And like. So it was great. I did. I did
Speaker:sneak a look at a name tag at one point during the week. And she
Speaker:was like, how did you remember? And her friend was like, she
Speaker:looked at your name tag. Oh, God. How dare that friend call you out.
Speaker:I was like, but yeah, 100%. You're wearing a name tag. I know. I
Speaker:really. Yes, I. I do know them because I'm just with them with
Speaker:surgery. And I see them more in person too. Yeah. But
Speaker:we had quite the turnout and it was. It was amazing. It was really, really
Speaker:great. And we had our selfie camera, which I love that guy. I kept screaming
Speaker:like, dude, over here. I know. I was stalking
Speaker:that guy. Because I couldn't. It was kind of airbrushed a little bit, so I
Speaker:couldn't stop with that. So it was very good. And then
Speaker:we also had our 360 camera we dragged outside, which if
Speaker:you have surgery here at the surgical center, you would know
Speaker:that we do that in the pre op gown. So it was fun. So that
Speaker:was great. And then Saturday. Yes. Let's talk about the full day.
Speaker:Our topic was a heavy one. It was. Yeah, let. Breaking
Speaker:free from shame was the kind of overarching theme of the day
Speaker:with Laura Graybaugh, the therapist. So that was. She came in from
Speaker:Michigan with her fabulous husband. Yeah, he was great. He was awesome.
Speaker:I loved him. Yeah. So helpful. He was super helpful. Jim. Thanks.
Speaker:Thank you. Thanks again. You're listening. I'm sure you're a weight loss collab fan. I
Speaker:know. I'm sure you're listening, but no, no, he was fantastic.
Speaker:Laura did an amazing job. I. I love the retreat. So just
Speaker:if you weren't there, we have, of course, posted our.
Speaker:On the weight loss collab podcast. You can go back, you can listen to my
Speaker:full spot. You can listen to Hannah's full speech. We talk
Speaker:a lot about kind of our own stories and you talked
Speaker:about just the morality of food and how we need to
Speaker:stop with this bad food, good food,
Speaker:your, you know, the guilt around it. I loved your talk. It
Speaker:was. It was so perfectly on point. I loved how you started it, how
Speaker:you basically said, hey, we're not here today to talk about
Speaker:macros and yeah, reading a label.
Speaker:This is about just like more like the mental side of it and how
Speaker:we do label things and ourselves and food and
Speaker:just, you know, you had it great. Slip, don't slide. Tomorrow's a new day.
Speaker:Let's go for it. And I thought it was so good. Thank you. I appreciate
Speaker:it. It was. I enjoyed like, kind of coming up with that concept
Speaker:and writing it and thinking through and, you know, getting a little bit.
Speaker:It was nice because we had some participation from people, you know, that
Speaker:they were able to share, you know, not a whole lot. It was. It was.
Speaker:But, you know, get some feedback and just connect with everybody in that
Speaker:sense of, you know, we've all been there. Yeah. You know, I think
Speaker:I asked some questions and every single hand went up in the room, mine included.
Speaker:And, you know, I think that that
Speaker:wherever you are, you go through these things and whatever your
Speaker:journey is with weight or anything like that, you get these feelings and
Speaker:it is. It's because it's so ingrained in us through
Speaker:different, different media and outlets and things like that, that
Speaker:we tie our self worth to food and what we eat. And it's
Speaker:like a silly little thing. It is silly. And I think your perspective
Speaker:was so almost like common sense, but also.
Speaker:Yeah, why didn't I ever think of it that way? Yeah, no one does seem
Speaker:the obvious, but in a really great way.
Speaker:So I loved it the day I
Speaker:gave a talk as well. I kind of shared more of my story about
Speaker:just my own personal struggles with shame and just
Speaker:professionally how I've taken the leap and how shame has
Speaker:always been right there with me and the different walks of life that I've
Speaker:had personally through my struggles with ivf. I
Speaker:talked a little bit about, you know, just the way I felt in training
Speaker:and with, you know, other surgeons who might
Speaker:have been in private practice or been seen as maybe taken more
Speaker:seriously, maybe because they were a man or just the position that they
Speaker:put themselves in. And that, you know, got
Speaker:me really thinking a lot also making that speech and
Speaker:just really thinking about what are my
Speaker:struggles with shame? And clearly we sold out that event
Speaker:so quickly. And I do believe that that is a topic
Speaker:that is heavy on a lot of people. And how do we start
Speaker:the action items to break free from it? And Laura really set
Speaker:it up well. I love her kind of framework for the entire event.
Speaker:She started it out with what, so what is shame?
Speaker:Then she went into so what? So why does that pertain
Speaker:to you and your life? And then finally, what
Speaker:now? And how do you break free from it? And how do you have actionable
Speaker:items? And we had this ceremony at the end
Speaker:where we wrote down the things that we wanted to break free from. We
Speaker:wrote down what we called our shame shields, and we put them on this page
Speaker:paper. And then we burned it. Yeah. And it was a really powerful
Speaker:image to write on there. I wrote perfectionism
Speaker:online and I. I just, I shared,
Speaker:you know, my story. Some of the, you know, some of that struggles with trying
Speaker:to fit in and trying to be something that maybe I wasn't and how unsettling
Speaker:that is. Yeah. And to like, burn at the end of this
Speaker:who. It was like, it was just like quite the
Speaker:image. It really was. And seeing it kind of like ripple across the.
Speaker:The room because everybody was sitting at their different tables and you'd just see these
Speaker:little, like, puffs because it was like the flash paper. So it just kind of
Speaker:burned into a little. Into nothing. And so it was really amazing just
Speaker:to kind of see it, like throughout the room of, like,
Speaker:just everybody, like, just letting go of at least that one little thing. And maybe
Speaker:it's, you know, we said this is not like a one and done kind of
Speaker:thing. You're not going to be healed perfectly from everything from. From
Speaker:this one day. But you can start to think through the process of
Speaker:this. And, yeah, you can let go of that one thing of, like, all right.
Speaker:And you catch yourself, too, of. Of that feeling coming
Speaker:up later. And it's like, no, no, no, no. I'm going to continue to, like,
Speaker:let go of that. And so, yeah, that part was. I
Speaker:loved that. I did, too. Yeah, I thought it was really good. And then when
Speaker:she started off with the what. What a shame. And we
Speaker:also had a visual for that. We had one of the participants, he put
Speaker:a backpack on, and every time someone would say
Speaker:a sound bite that made such a massive
Speaker:impact on their life, we would put a rock in there.
Speaker:And ultimately it is that internal weight
Speaker:of shame and how that was physically weighing him down
Speaker:and obviously mentally, emotionally, and all the things but what people were
Speaker:sharing. People were getting very emotional when they were saying
Speaker:things like, I feel shame when my young daughter
Speaker:says to me, mommy, why can't I wrap my arms completely around you?
Speaker:And I would date you if you weighed less than me, where you
Speaker:have such a pretty face and all these kind of relatable things. Everyone was
Speaker:sort of emphatically nodding in the room and saying,
Speaker:like, yes, I get that you're resonating with me. And that is also
Speaker:that power of community to not feel so isolating. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. And I do think that was, you know, really what we've kind of
Speaker:all took away from the weekend was not just that
Speaker:education piece. It wasn't just that, you know, how do we release these
Speaker:things? But also that sense of community, that sense of belonging
Speaker:and how important that is. And, you know, obviously, we focus
Speaker:so much on doing things virtually and online and all of this
Speaker:stuff, but having that space where we were all physically together
Speaker:really did amplify it and allowed it to be
Speaker:kind of that next level. And I thought that was just really
Speaker:great. And it was. It was like, we saw people. I saw people in the
Speaker:Facebook group afterwards. It's like, oh, my God, I made my new best friend. And,
Speaker:like, you know, they've already got plans. And then I think, what was it? Like,
Speaker:15 or 20 people the next day went and did aerial
Speaker:yoga, which looked amazing. So, like,
Speaker:you know, just so much more to it than,
Speaker:obviously, we're still going to offer all the things that we do. But I think
Speaker:that we know, like, okay, this is, this is important.
Speaker:It's, it's powerful and it's worth the time and the effort
Speaker:that goes into all of it to really just bring
Speaker:this kind of community together. I mean, so well said. It is
Speaker:time. It's effort, it's planning, it's even just strategizing about
Speaker:what does the agenda look like, what is the content? What is going to give
Speaker:people who invest their Saturday, their Friday
Speaker:night in you? What is going to give them value so that they
Speaker:want to come back, they trust you. So we had to knock
Speaker:the first one out of the park. I think we did it. I think so.
Speaker:I think Laura did an awesome job in coming up with
Speaker:the topic. Breaking free from shame. I thought, man, we're going
Speaker:all in. Like, we're leaning in, right? Let's just start off strong. Let's just
Speaker:go for it. And just the mindset work and, and people
Speaker:were hungry for it and I think that they left a little
Speaker:lighter. I feel like the feedback's been great. We want all the feedback though, because
Speaker:anything we can do, like again, have idea, let's do the idea.
Speaker:And we are, we want to be that program that people are
Speaker:like, yeah, they get it, they do it. They
Speaker:are truly comprehensive. I think we throw all this like
Speaker:multidisciplinary, all these words around so easily, but we
Speaker:want to make sure that we have a program that is
Speaker:really unlike any. Anything else. Right. And if you are an attendee, please
Speaker:check your email and make sure you do the poster post retreat survey. Yes.
Speaker:Hannah wrote that survey, which has a lot of thoughtful questions. It does.
Speaker:And some of you actually have returned those. And we were
Speaker:like devouring that information. And thank you for those
Speaker:who have probably spent like quite a bit of time to answer the way that
Speaker:they have and really great things. Yeah, I promise. It's. It's like
Speaker:us reading it. Like, it's not. Yeah, it does. It's not going to some
Speaker:junk. It's coming directly to my email. So yeah, send it in. We've read every
Speaker:word of it and like certain things like, oh, people would like to, you
Speaker:know, connect outside of like a small group chat of those who were at their
Speaker:small group table. Like, I want to. Can I get the contact information
Speaker:for those who opt into it of everyone there? Like, do we even have like
Speaker:a smaller, like, like kind of exclusive spin off support group on Facebook
Speaker:or something virtually that people can share their pictures, their
Speaker:thoughts, their feelings with that intimate group that was
Speaker:there, and they got it, and they're kind of in the same headspace of it.
Speaker:All right. Yeah. So please, we love the feedback. And if there was something that
Speaker:you took away that wasn't, that was negative for you, we
Speaker:want to know that, too. We don't want just your ideas next better thing,
Speaker:but we always want to improve on what we're doing. So
Speaker:we do appreciate any and all feedback. So that is
Speaker:why we have a lot to talk about now
Speaker:about our next events. And you
Speaker:better hurry, because this one is going to go quickly as well. This
Speaker:one is something that. It's like one of those
Speaker:things where you feel like you've always had these pieces of something.
Speaker:You kind of have felt like you wanted to do this, and now it's
Speaker:like, coming together, and it's
Speaker:really like, I'm super passionate about what we're doing next.
Speaker:This is the biggest event of its kind, at least that I know of.
Speaker:That's more in the bariatric space, but it's beyond that.
Speaker:It's really, like we said for the last one, but this one is really more
Speaker:for some. Anyone who is on a personal development
Speaker:journey and just wants to live their best life. Yeah,
Speaker:Well, I think, you know, kind of going back to your speech for a second
Speaker:because I re listened to it as I was getting it ready
Speaker:for the podcast and everything. And it was. It was so much like more
Speaker:than just weight loss. And I think that that's what we want
Speaker:this to be, because, you know, we've said it before here,
Speaker:like, at a certain point, this really becomes kind of the least
Speaker:interesting thing, is that you're a bariatric patient, you know,
Speaker:and that's. We want you to just. Your life to be so much more interesting
Speaker:and better than that. And so I think that we're
Speaker:kind of taking that and saying, okay, like, how do we shape and form that?
Speaker:Yes. And that's what this event, I think is going to be. So this event
Speaker:is called Body by Transformation, the butterfly effect.
Speaker:So let's start by talking about the butterfly effect. First
Speaker:off, the butterfly in general. So obviously, our
Speaker:symbol, our whole logo is a butterfly. And
Speaker:a lot of patients even have butterfly tattoos. Not that
Speaker:there, Ares, but the butterfly is very symbolic to many
Speaker:people for many reasons. It's. It means metamorphosis, it means change,
Speaker:it means transformation. But there's also this butterfly effect,
Speaker:which is essentially all these small, different things that you do in your life,
Speaker:how they all cumulatively make such a big impact.
Speaker:And I looked it up. I'm like, why is it called the butterfly effect? And
Speaker:it was something like, if you're in South America and the butterfly flaps
Speaker:its wings just so it can cause this ripple effect where it can
Speaker:send off a massive storm in Texas, in theory. So. So it's just like
Speaker:all these micro things. You leave work a little later, and then you
Speaker:avoid a car accident, you decide to have bariatric surgery,
Speaker:and now all of a sudden, you pick a different life partner because you
Speaker:might feel more confident. You decide to get your education, to go for that
Speaker:promotion to professionally to financially have more
Speaker:wealth and success because of the decisions that you've made.
Speaker:And it's just because you've decided to invest in yourself and better yourself.
Speaker:And just beyond the physical changes of
Speaker:losing weight, yes, there's health, but there's also just
Speaker:professionally what you can become. And I just think that
Speaker:that whole ripple and that whole idea is fascinating.
Speaker:And we really want some powerful, dynamic
Speaker:speakers and people to share their stories. And we're doing
Speaker:this on a major platform. So tell us some more of
Speaker:the details of the actual event and kind of the
Speaker:goal in what we really want to. To accomplish with it.
Speaker:Yeah, so it's going to be May 1st and 2nd of 2026
Speaker:in Orlando. We're going to be doing it at a hotel, so it'll all be
Speaker:in one space this time. So not two locations or
Speaker:anything like that. Similar, though, we are going to do, like, a
Speaker:reception Friday night. It's going to be really great with, you
Speaker:know, some light bites and cocktails and things like that. So again, we just want
Speaker:it to be, like a great space where you start to feel comfortable, where you
Speaker:start to feel open. You get to know some of these people. People
Speaker:before you're moving into this more like transformative, you know,
Speaker:like, why don't you start. Start you off cold on Saturday morning. Tell
Speaker:me again, like, like I said, the last podcast, let's go all in. We're
Speaker:gonna start with, like, the Kleenex boxes strategically placed at the table so that
Speaker:you can start crying immediately. Yeah, right. So we want to at least warm you
Speaker:up for that. We're gonna. Yeah, we're gonna warm you up Friday night. And then
Speaker:Saturday will be similar if you. Again, if you were at the retreat. If you're
Speaker:not, 9 to 4 will be the timing. We'll start. We'll have
Speaker:coffee in the morning. We'll get going. We're gonna have think,
Speaker:like more. We're gonna have some really amazing, really dynamic
Speaker:speakers. I mean, we might be talking who knows?
Speaker:Spoiler alert. But we're, you know, we're. We're gonna be focused
Speaker:on kind of just this, like, broader picture of
Speaker:transformation and what that can look like in your whole life
Speaker:versus just with the weight loss. And.
Speaker:And so that's going to be great. And. Yeah. And then, you know,
Speaker:we're, again, we're open to ideas, but we want to make sure that we're setting
Speaker:people up then to kind of finish out their day. If they want to go,
Speaker:there's pool, there will be a, you know, amenities available, things like that.
Speaker:If they want to go ahead and. And set up some group meetings and things
Speaker:like that to kind of finish out their weekend. Yeah, we'll get all
Speaker:that. And there will be things like room block, so you'll get some, you know,
Speaker:discounted hotel pricing and all of that. Of course, if you're local, you're welcome just
Speaker:to come in for the day and things like that or. Or, you know,
Speaker:back and forth. Whatever works for you. Yeah, I think it'll be fun to stay
Speaker:at the hotel. Yeah, we're totally staying at the hotel. We'll be there all
Speaker:weekend from Friday, May 1 through Sunday, May 3. And
Speaker:the. The pool, all of that is awesome. And we
Speaker:get to. All, because we're participants, get to use the entire resort.
Speaker:Yes. And we'll be hanging there. So it's not going to be.
Speaker:That was one bit of feedback from the first one. It was like it ended.
Speaker:It is like, now what. We all kind of scurried away and
Speaker:went on with our weekends, but now it's going to be, hey, let's go to
Speaker:the pool. Let's keep. Now let's, you know, we really know each other
Speaker:and let's keep that community vibes, like, going for the whole
Speaker:weekend. Yeah. Yeah. So I think, like, what you said is really
Speaker:what we want to do. We want you to feel like, how do I live
Speaker:my best life? I am currently, I'm stuck in a rut. I
Speaker:feel like I just need a little, like, push in the right direction.
Speaker:I need to hear something. I need to be part of something. I need to
Speaker:just, like, slow down and think about my own life.
Speaker:And more than that, I think my biggest goal for this
Speaker:is the whole concept of visualization,
Speaker:just visualizing your future. It's about imagination.
Speaker:It's about manifestation. And it's something that.
Speaker:This is like a dorky kind of like completely. Not
Speaker:even on the same level example. But at tennis clinic the other day,
Speaker:they were talking about doing a backhand slam And I never
Speaker:even heard of this shot. I have no idea what that is. So basically, you
Speaker:can do like an overhead, which is like, with your dominant hand on your dominant
Speaker:side. But if you are. If the ball's coming over
Speaker:here and it's high up and you don't have time enough to get wrap your
Speaker:body around to do that, you. You can do it on your opposite
Speaker:side and with two hands, like, slam it down. Oh, okay. Like,
Speaker:I don't know. I'm learning. But anyway, it was pretty fascinating. And so what he
Speaker:told all of us was, hey, listen, you gotta hit that shot no matter
Speaker:what. Like how the ball comes over. You are just visualize
Speaker:yourself hitting a backhand slam. And all of a sudden none of us have
Speaker:ever hit the shot. But now we're like all executing a backhand slam.
Speaker:Like, can't return this ball because of the angle that it hits on the court.
Speaker:Yeah, okay, I'm getting technical here. But he's like, why did you guys all
Speaker:do this? And then I was like, we imagined it. We visualize it.
Speaker:We saw it. So we have a podcast about this before where we
Speaker:talk about 10x is easier than 2x. And it's this thing that
Speaker:you set your huge goals out there. Like something
Speaker:audacious, like bold. I want to make $10 million next year.
Speaker:Okay. This is not to say like, who does she think she is?
Speaker:I'm putting it out there. I want to make $10 million next year.
Speaker:Now what do you do then? You. You visualize it. What does that look like?
Speaker:And really think about all the details, like, what does it take to get
Speaker:there? Like, how are you going to do that? What is the plan? And then
Speaker:you're so intentional about that. You can start to say no to things
Speaker:that don't align with that audacious goal that you are
Speaker:visualizing. And we want people to come in with this, like,
Speaker:crisp image of themselves. And whether they see it in a magazine
Speaker:or they cut out something on the Internet or something, we want to have this
Speaker:activity where we have this larger than life butterfly that we're going to be
Speaker:transforming through the weekend, where it goes from beige to neutral
Speaker:to boring to blah. Maybe that's how you feel like about your life right
Speaker:now to now. Transforming this into this. We're all putting
Speaker:these huge, just mega visual
Speaker:visuals on there, like vision board stuff. Like we're all doing it together. That it
Speaker:now becomes this chaotically beautiful color, colorful kind of
Speaker:a piece. Yeah. That is something that
Speaker:I hope is the powerful visual of this Next
Speaker:retreat event experience. And then you have one up it again. Yeah, we're gonna
Speaker:one up the next time. Yeah. This one is child's, let me tell you. Will
Speaker:be. I'm trying to think of a. I was gonna think of a crazy venue,
Speaker:and I. I lost my. Well, I'm thinking the next one is.
Speaker:Well, right now we're talking about things like av. Okay.
Speaker:So, like, as we get more successful and more people, then you can kind of
Speaker:up the budget. Yeah. So this first one was admittedly us with
Speaker:PowerPoints and a projector that would blind us when we'd walk in front of
Speaker:it if you were there, you know. Yeah. And this next one, we're getting
Speaker:actual professional AV help, and we're going to have screens
Speaker:and piping and lighting and microphones, and we're going to be coming
Speaker:into the crowd. It's going to be a lot more engaging with the crowd as
Speaker:well. Like, we want it a lot more interactive so that you can
Speaker:share what is your vision. Yeah. I want you to tell people. I want you
Speaker:to put it out into the universe so that that makes it more likely. Like,
Speaker:remember when you said on May 2, 2026,
Speaker:in that room at that conference Body by Transformation, that
Speaker:you were going to do this? I want to see you do it so that
Speaker:when we have you on film saying that you're going to do it afterwards,
Speaker:putting it out there, and when it happens, it's like, that was the
Speaker:seed. That's what it started. Told you. We told you so. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. You did it, and it's awesome. And you're living that life because of something
Speaker:that you decided to participate in. Yeah. And I think that,
Speaker:you know, we. Again, we've kind of touched on this before and today already, but,
Speaker:like, this is just to be so much more than
Speaker:just weight loss, because that's so important. You know, we.
Speaker:It's not to downplay that in your life and role, but, like,
Speaker:it just is, like, it is this, like, life
Speaker:transformation. It's just this overhaul. And it does. It kind of
Speaker:gives you, like, a fresh start, a fresh time to get
Speaker:that going and just to live those next big,
Speaker:crazy dreams. Absolutely. And that is. So it's for
Speaker:anybody. You don't have to have had bariatric surgery to find, like,
Speaker:man, I stumbled across this podcast. I'm so fortunate to be listening to this.
Speaker:This is maybe the butterfly effect. Why am I randomly listening to
Speaker:this right now? And how that's going to potentially take
Speaker:you to the conference and then ultimately beyond. But you don't have to
Speaker:have had surgery. You don't have to even be a
Speaker:patient. The pre op. You could maybe be in the program, not be in our
Speaker:program. That's the other thing. This is not just body by bariatrics.
Speaker:This is not just local to Orlando. We really want this
Speaker:to become a place where we're collaborating, we're
Speaker:bringing together like minded individuals who just want more out of
Speaker:their one life. And we're bringing them all together into one space.
Speaker:And just how we. The synergy of having all these
Speaker:kind of like minded individuals who are ready for
Speaker:it, just ready for the transformation. Absolutely. I think it's going to
Speaker:be amazing. I'm really excited. Like we were this
Speaker:morning just like going hard with detail. Like, because, you know, we. I
Speaker:was telling someone that we were talking to about it earlier. I was like, we
Speaker:don't do anything slow. So I was like, thanks that you. Thank you that you've
Speaker:called us back four times today. We appreciate that because we're just
Speaker:gonna like, we're gonna rip this thing out and it's gonna be amazing. And of
Speaker:course not to say we're not putting time and effort and attention into it, but
Speaker:like, we are just already so excited because we
Speaker:saw how much success and how much people liked this first one and we were
Speaker:like. And that's just us getting started. It is. And so I think that this
Speaker:is gonna be, you know, it's just like 2.0. And then like
Speaker:I said, yeah, the next time will be somewhere crazy. I know.
Speaker:With like rocket center or something. I like
Speaker:that idea. Yeah. We'll just have the Rockettes with us.
Speaker:I like that. That's a cool visual. Let me join.
Speaker:You could actually. Am I the right height? I think you're the right height. I
Speaker:have to do the skill set. I think you're perfect. I think you're right in
Speaker:there. But I can't be in the middle. Okay. Short. Well,
Speaker:you, you. She's very flexible. As you have seen. She can kick.
Speaker:I was like, huh. No, actually you probably could. You probably. Right now I can't
Speaker:really. I know. Another big announcement. Let's take a detour right now. A
Speaker:detour? Yeah. And if you were at the retreat, you heard this maybe. But yeah.
Speaker:I'm having another baby. Yes. The family's expanding.
Speaker:She's having another girl. Yes. We're very excited. So
Speaker:she's coming due in March, so we'll see
Speaker:if that's the time frame or not. Maybe, maybe late February. Who knows?
Speaker:You know, they come on they come when they come. But, yeah,
Speaker:we're really excited. We're gonna be a little girl family. I love it. Except for
Speaker:our one boy, Cat, and my husband. We let him in. We let him in.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. No. Congratulations to you guys. And
Speaker:that's another reason we planned this for May 1st through 3rd. I needed
Speaker:my right hand, my creative thought partner. I needed my gal.
Speaker:I can't be, like, waddling around February. Because I'm so
Speaker:jazz. I'm like, can we do another one next month? And it's like, all right,
Speaker:slow your roll, because you want to really do this right. But I don't want
Speaker:to wait a full year either. So that's how we set it on this May
Speaker:time frame. Yeah. So it lets people kind of plan to come down.
Speaker:Yes. There's Mother's Day is the next weekend, and Easter is
Speaker:way back in April, like spring breaks in March.
Speaker:So you're good. Yeah. We really thought about this. This is, like a very
Speaker:good. And the school's still in, so it's, you know, you don't have the chaos
Speaker:of the summer and the kids being home and all of that. And it should
Speaker:still be, like, a little bit nice here in Florida at that time. Oh,
Speaker:absolutely. Like July, you know, it's gonna be that. I love that time
Speaker:frame here because it's. So it's still a little cold in the north.
Speaker:Sometimes intermittently, it's still hit or miss. Oh, yeah. Here you're gonna have great weather.
Speaker:Probably great. And it's not hurricane season. It's not a few
Speaker:months. That's not hurricane. A lot of great things. May 1st through 3rd is that
Speaker:perfect weekend. I'm pretty sure. So we have a lot
Speaker:of things in store for you. Again, we're going bigger, and we talk a lot
Speaker:about just investing in yourself. So the financial investment
Speaker:of this. Yes. So it does cost
Speaker:249.99. But. But if you're
Speaker:listening. And this is still in 2025,
Speaker:if you get this before the new calendar year, we are
Speaker:doing it for 199.99. $200. And
Speaker:that includes the evening event on Friday and then all day
Speaker:Saturday. And then, like I said, they'll have special pricing for the hotel
Speaker:block and everything like that. So we'll get all that information out as well.
Speaker:Yes. But, yeah, pretty good deal, I would say. I think you're, you know,
Speaker:hard pressed to find anything else like it. Yeah. For all of this, with
Speaker:credentialed experts, with. I'm telling you, I keep using this word but like
Speaker:powerhouse speakers, really just
Speaker:taking it up a notch and we're refining the message,
Speaker:refining what we want you to get out of it. The visuals.
Speaker:Yeah, it's gonna be next level. You cannot miss this. And if you did not
Speaker:attend the first one and you are on Instagram or Facebook,
Speaker:in the support group, looking at everybody posting their pictures, their
Speaker:videos, the fomo, I could feel like, oh, I hope you guys have another one
Speaker:of these. I missed this. Somebody said they already have three people that want to
Speaker:come to the next one. New people. Yes,
Speaker:I'm sure. Because they're like, wait, you got all that? And
Speaker:because the thing about this is we want to hopefully make it so that
Speaker:financially people can come like we want. Yeah. Yes.
Speaker:We want you to have access to this sort of thing because we do think
Speaker:that if this is part of your journey in any way, shape or form,
Speaker:it is. So it's just foundational that you have this
Speaker:so that you will have a better result just like anything.
Speaker:So we want you to be there. It's a long term investment in
Speaker:not only your health and in that journey, but just in
Speaker:yourself that you decided to make when you got on that
Speaker:or table or not, if that's the case. But
Speaker:obviously most people listening are bariatric patients.
Speaker:And again, that's just something that it comes with it. It's just you get
Speaker:the opportunity to make yourself better and
Speaker:to grow. Absolutely. And I'm gonna throw it out there
Speaker:right now. You're like, where are we going? I am always unsure where we're
Speaker:going. I am manifesting, and I told you this already, but I'm telling
Speaker:the world right now. I am manifesting a huge announcement
Speaker:from us, a new business stream that has to do with you at the
Speaker:helm of it, that I am manifesting this finished,
Speaker:polished thing to be right there so that people can
Speaker:see all of the hard work. And it's just something that
Speaker:we're going to put out there. Our next big. See, she's putting the big ideas
Speaker:out there. I'm putting the big ideas out there. In the first picture on the
Speaker:butterfly. I'm putting the first one on there. I can already see it. We're going
Speaker:to really refine the way the label looks. Well, you know, that's a little
Speaker:teaser. The label looks. The line looks.
Speaker:Yeah. What it is, the shape, the size, the amount, the
Speaker:type. Yeah. Hint. A registered dietitian is going
Speaker:to be leading this new thing. Yes. And this is something that
Speaker:our patients have asked for for over a decade. They want it Specifically
Speaker:from us. And I want that to be part of it. So
Speaker:that'll be there too. We're making big announcements, and I
Speaker:told Laura that it better be the release of her book. Like, I'm making.
Speaker:I'm putting one out there. Another one for Laura. Yeah. Yep.
Speaker:Book release. Book release. I hope you're listening. She will be listening. We'll text her.
Speaker:She will absolutely be listening. I want her to put that out there or something
Speaker:that. What about your book? Are you gonna write a book? I know I wanna
Speaker:write a book, but I don't know you in all your free
Speaker:time. In all my free time. But that is something that I absolutely wanna accomplish
Speaker:in my life. I love to write, I love to think, I love
Speaker:to create. I love these sessions. I love this conversation.
Speaker:I love watching some of the things that we do through the eyes
Speaker:of everybody that was there. It is so, like,
Speaker:rewarding from a career standpoint and just, like, for an
Speaker:overall standpoint, like, something that you put your heart and your soul into it. It's
Speaker:like, yes, I guess we're artists in a way. We
Speaker:always talk about Dr. Irene Tower, body by Beauty, being an artist because
Speaker:she has instantaneous results. She transforms patients
Speaker:bodies. She makes their contour, all these things so
Speaker:beautiful. Mine, I do a procedure. You look
Speaker:the same when you come in and you leave. And then obviously I get to
Speaker:see the results of it. But this is something that is
Speaker:also, like, an art to like, to see what people want and
Speaker:to just to kind of fill the gaps. Yeah, absolutely. What. What
Speaker:would the tagline of your book be like? It's gonna be like, da, da,
Speaker:da colon. I know. Just like the body by transformation.
Speaker:The butterfly effect. Oh, gosh. Or. What would a chapter of
Speaker:your book be called? Oh, goodness. It would. It would absolutely. About,
Speaker:like, girls can do hard things. Yeah. It kind of is stealing a little
Speaker:bit of, like, my thing. I always quote about Glennon Doyle
Speaker:and. And just her book Untamed. And it would somehow
Speaker:be just the idea of being untamed, uncaged,
Speaker:free, cheetah roaming. Like, she recognized her
Speaker:wild. It would be, you know, she looked regal
Speaker:and a little scary. Maybe that would be it. That would be a chapter. She
Speaker:was regal and a little scary. Yeah. So it's perfect. Today you're in, like, a
Speaker:cheetah dress. I know. I love this dress. Run the Runway. And I saw it,
Speaker:and I'm like, it has a little pink, a little purple, purple, little animal prints,
Speaker:like, can't beat it. Nailed it. Yeah, I like that. So
Speaker:what would your. What would your book chapter be? My chapter?
Speaker:Oh, man. Probably something like, I didn't want to write this
Speaker:book. Like, no, I feel like I always come up with. I'm like,
Speaker:oh, book title. That's my thing. Like, yeah, you come up with something so unexpected.
Speaker:Respected. It's like. Yeah, I. I just. Like when
Speaker:we introduce ourselves for the one podcast that we were on previously,
Speaker:I. I just feel like I could almost like
Speaker:introduce you. I'd have to write the forward for your book. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Clearly you'd actually have to write the whole thing. I'm so sorry to do that
Speaker:to you. That's okay. I am not a writer myself. It's never been something
Speaker:that I've want. Like, it's like some people are like, oh my gosh, I would
Speaker:love to write a book. And there's other dietitians that have done it, and it's
Speaker:been either their personal journey or course they'll do cookbooks and stuff like that. But
Speaker:it's never been something that's like, on my radar because I'm just not a writer.
Speaker:I've never. Has never been my skill set. But I'm like, maybe if I
Speaker:could. If I could just dictate it. Dictate it? Yeah, in the shower.
Speaker:I think that would be incredible. They would have to like, just edit
Speaker:down the. The shower noises to hear it to. Actually
Speaker:somebody could transcribe it for me. Absolutely. But yeah, that's how it would have to
Speaker:be written. And it would be so good. So. So. And then it would probably
Speaker:be like 12 pages long. Maybe I'll. Maybe I'll do like a storybook.
Speaker:That'd be cool. Like a kids book or something. I know that that could be
Speaker:our next thing, making a kids book for. You know, Mommy and
Speaker:daddy is having bariatric surgery and let me try to explain this to you.
Speaker:Yeah. What is this? What is this? People are going to start hitting us up
Speaker:like, where. When's the children's. Children's. The product line coming up? When's the book coming?
Speaker:When's. Yeah, you know, but it will come because I'm putting it out there. That
Speaker:is the whole point of all of this. Exactly. So we are doing this. We
Speaker:are. So I want you, if you're listening to really just start
Speaker:to think about the butterfly effect, how it's happened in your
Speaker:life, how it even brought us together. And our.
Speaker:You know, we talk a lot about the interview, but just in just
Speaker:your whole life from going from Chicago and now you
Speaker:decided that everywhere that I've lived. I mean, it's been like.
Speaker:So my path went. I grew up in Florida and then I. I lived here,
Speaker:went to college here. Then I went to New Orleans for a year.
Speaker:I traveled. I took a year off from college or after college and then went
Speaker:back to school. Then I went to New Orleans and then I lived in Arkansas
Speaker:for a year. If anybody was really random, I forgot about that always.
Speaker:I would have never. Well, my ex worked for General Mills and they have a
Speaker:big office there because it's where Walmart's headquartered. So I lived there and then we
Speaker:moved to Philly for a year and then we moved to Chicago and then we
Speaker:split up and then I lived in Chicago for four years and then
Speaker:I made my now husband move to Florida with me because I was tired of
Speaker:winter. I said, yeah, especially Covid winter. It was
Speaker:terrible. I know. But then I met you via Zoom.
Speaker:We've talked about that before. But yeah, did that fateful interview.
Speaker:I know. And it was just really great. And I knew, I
Speaker:knew that you were something special and we were gonna have a very special
Speaker:bond in a relationship that was not going to be
Speaker:a traditional work colleague only
Speaker:relationship. I knew we were going to be friends and I just knew it.
Speaker:And it was just like this magnetic, like I have
Speaker:to work with this individual and. And then just to
Speaker:evolve into the podcast and just like how you like. Well, even today you were
Speaker:talking about. Yeah, like being at Leslie's baby shower, I guess was where you
Speaker:remember that. I was like, yeah, we're going to do this podcast.
Speaker:Yeah. I was like, okay, I love it. Let's do it. And then
Speaker:just all the iterations and now look at us. Look at us now. It looks
Speaker:so good. It's just, it's just like a pinch me moment to
Speaker:come to this point, but only to know that we are still just getting
Speaker:started and we just keep getting better and we just keep wanting to improve
Speaker:ourselves. And that's why I'm going to be a
Speaker:very excited recipient of everything that comes out of body by transformation.
Speaker:Absolutely. Well, anything else you want to add? I'm
Speaker:just really excited. Yeah. Announcing this coming soon.
Speaker:Yes. So get your tickets. They're going to sell out. We are.
Speaker:It's going to be, I think, the biggest event ever put on in this space.
Speaker:So we are really expanding the number, but I do think that
Speaker:we're going to. To sell them all, so I don't want you to
Speaker:miss out. So I would just. And get the special pricing for this year. Yeah.
Speaker:190 or 999. 200 for all of that you get.
Speaker:People were really shocked about the last one. They were like, you have to be
Speaker:losing money. And it's like, don't worry about us. Don't worry about us. We just
Speaker:want to make sure that this happens for you. So get it while
Speaker:you can at this lower discounted price. And I
Speaker:would love to see all of you. I would love to meet a lot of
Speaker:new people and expand, Bring your. Friends, bring your families, you
Speaker:can bring your spouses to this. We had people do that for the last
Speaker:retreat that brought their spouse who didn't have surgery. And, you know, because
Speaker:there is so much more to this and also just understanding your bariatric journey
Speaker:more to share it with your loved ones, I think that that can be really
Speaker:beneficial as well. I think so, too. I think, yeah, there's going to be a
Speaker:lot in there about relationships. I think that's a key thing to
Speaker:being able to be very successful is just mastering communication,
Speaker:relationships, you know, beyond all types. So,
Speaker:yeah, there's going to be a. Lot of cramming in there. We're cramming
Speaker:it in. It's going to be action packed. Yes. Value packed. So hope you don't
Speaker:want to break. No, no breaks this time. Last time we had a lot of
Speaker:breaks. A lot of, you know, a lot of small group talking, thinking, reflecting.
Speaker:No break later. You can think about all that later. Take furious notes.
Speaker:Yeah. And then. And then just kind of check in with yourself after what
Speaker:just happened to me. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'm running through that brick wall. I
Speaker:always talk about that kind of a thought. And yeah, my life is
Speaker:forever changed. Absolutely. Leaving different than when I came in. And that, my friends,
Speaker:is Body by Transformation. The butterfly effect. I love it.
Speaker:All right, well, as always, you can find us on Instagram at the
Speaker:weight loss collab at Hannah Schuyler.rd at Dr. Dovik
Speaker:at Body by Bariatrics. And like we said, we want to hear all the
Speaker:feedback. So send that in. Tell us what you're excited about hearing
Speaker:about this and yeah, we're so excited. Yeah. See you
Speaker:in May, for sure. We'll see you in May. May 1st through 3rd. Go to
Speaker:bodybyberiatrics.com and you will see. See our link
Speaker:there under the events page or under the drop down. Under the
Speaker:about. Under the events, you'll see the Body by Transformation
Speaker:event. So you can sign up for it right then and secure your spot. I
Speaker:love it. All right, we'll see you next time. Bye, guys. Bye.
