ļ»æTranscription
00:00:02
Hello and welcome to the Champagne Lounge. I'm joined on today's episode by the wonderful Dr. Lucy Burns, who is, I'm going to say, half of Real Life Medicine. Welcome to the show, Lucy. Oh, thanks so much, Beck.
00:00:17
Thanks for having me on. It's a pleasure. I'm excited to have you here. And actually, this is kind of weird talking to you without having Mary in the conversation. I know.
00:00:26
I'm often obviously with Mary, it's interesting when you've got a business partner, you become like a duo, but we also do do lots of things separately. Yeah, I love that. So you and I met as part of a other business community in terms of where we're learning online courses and the beauty of that and really connected when we were up in Queensland earlier in 2023, which got me thinking, I want to have a chat to you on the podcast about what you do, because you're doing things so differently and I want to shed a light on that. So tell us about what Real Life Medicine is and how it came about. Absolutely.
00:01:03
Thank you. So I work in the weight loss space in metabolic health, and I was working as a standard doctor with the standard Process, which is your consulting room, and people book appointments and they come in and you chitchat and do the things and then they leave. And I was running this clinic and it was super busy. It had a different name to real life medicine and it was actually called Epiphany medical Weight Loss. And it's a little funny story about that, but I called it that because there were like these few little keys that I had missed in both my medical training, but also just in my, I don't know, my job as a woman and my job as a woman in my brain.
00:01:49
And this was that. I was a dieting queen. So I'd spent a lot of time, long, long time, losing weight, gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight anyway. And is that because predominantly as women, we jump into a fad or jump into something for a short period and want quick results? Yeah, it's twofold, I think.
00:02:06
So we want that. Absolutely, we want that. And we are prepared to go through what we will consider to be short term pain for supposed long term gain. Except that was a myth. There was no long term gain.
00:02:20
There was short term pain, there was a little bit of gain and then it would all come back on again. So this whole myth that I'd been sold, that I adhered to was just BS. So that was part of it. The second part of it, I guess, was just this recognition that and maybe again, it's part of getting a bit older, that you can look back and realize that I was doing all of this to fit into society's norm of what we should look like. The thinner the better, the smaller the better.
00:02:51
And that was what was important. And that at the time, I didn't actually care about health at all, I just wanted to be thin. So there's a whole story around right. Look, the part that we're being told we need to play. Yeah, absolutely.
00:03:08
So, yes. And so I think all of us have fallen into this trap and it's not our fault. I mean, the messaging is massive. The messaging and both subversive and obvious messaging that thin is better is huge. So therefore, having to come to weight management from a different angle, because it's not about being thin to fit into society's norms, like at all.
00:03:36
That's almost the opposite of what we believe. But on the other hand, we do have a big problem with metabolic health, with obesity, with chronic disease, and our weight does play a role in that. So it's about trying to weave through this really tricky area to have people feel better, feel good. Weight loss comes along for the ride and do it in a way that is actually sustainable, nurturing, nourishing to their bodies rather than punitive, deprivation and punishment. So I had this little clinic called Epiphany Medical Weight Loss.
00:04:16
And then I had to change the name for a couple of reasons. A few people didn't know what an epiphany was and I thought, it's okay. Some people thought there was what one was just not how to spell the word if I was going to look it up.
00:04:29
Absolutely. And some people thought there was a religious component because there is some the Holy Epiphany or something. And then the real clincher was that people were calling it Effifanny because that's how it spelt and that's when I went, right, time for a rebrand.
00:04:51
So, yes, always do some beta testing when you're thinking about the name of your business. Lesson learned there, right? Absolutely. And why did you land on the name of real life medicine? Because you are looking at holistic health and weight loss and medicine sometimes can feel a little bit clinical.
00:05:14
How did you land on mean? We spent a bit of time brainstorming and we were trying to come up. So by this stage, I'd joined forces with Mary and we were coming up, you know, what do we do? Who are you know, I think we pride ourselves on being approachable and being real. And so we really and again, it's another little navigating space.
00:05:42
So it's not about like, I dye my hair, right? So if I didn't dye my hair, I would have mousy brown hair. So it's not about not doing anything, but it is about turning up and being authentic. So there's that authentic component to the way we want to interact with our people, with our patients, with people doing our courses. But also it's about fitting it into real life.
00:06:07
Life is messy and busy and conflicting and trying to do something like this, fitting it into your real life just became that's what we do. Yeah. So it worked. So yeah, we love it. Amazing.
00:06:22
And I love that because it's very similar to how I've done the Champagne Lounge, right? There's enough chaos and enough agendas and enough follow this plan and follow these steps and stop beating yourself up because you missed a session type scenarios in our worlds without needing the added pressure. So in doing that differently, how have you seen that impact ripple on to your clients coming through? Because do you see people one to one and in programs or is it predominantly programs in a community feel for them? Yeah, so that was one of the things that was missing in one to one clinical work is that people go, they leave the room and then they're by themselves between sessions.
00:07:03
And for any long term change, it's all about a movement, a community being part of a gang. And that's what keeps people moving. That's what brings the momentum, is that united feeling, that connection part of our programs. There's always a community aspect to them. I think that that's just vital.
00:07:28
And we're designed to connect. So connecting is key. And how have you seen that help your clients, your members, whatever we're going to call them for this because medical I see clients and then you go members. In terms of a group, have you seen them connect together externally to your teachings and your master classes and stuff for the momentum to keep going for them? How have those micro communities built?
00:07:56
Yeah, absolutely. And it's interesting. So we have a twelve week program, which is our signature program, and then that feeds into a membership. So for the people who at the end of the twelve weeks want to continue on and our membership is called momentum. And just this morning somebody posted in the Facebook group a photo of two of the women, two of her and her new friend.
00:08:21
And they're from different states and one of them was going up to Queensland for a holiday and so she went over to the other one's house and they had just I absolutely love that. It is the key, doing something solo. It works sort of short term, you can do little bursts of stuff by yourself, but actually you need to be connected. But it is that momentum and the checking in and holding your hand when you're feeling a bit wobbly and cheering you on when you're doing a really good job, which is vital in that long term change. Right?
00:08:54
Absolutely. Yes. We're not islands, we're communities, we're tribal, we like to be connected. And when you find your tribe, then that's when the magic happens. All the feels in terms of that magical essence that just comes from community.
00:09:13
But let me just scale slight different tact on it in terms of the weight loss versus health and well being, right? Because they're two very different things and you may be super skinny and really unhealthy. How do you guys define health? As an entity, as it were, and encourage women to actually understand that for themselves? Yeah, absolutely.
00:09:36
And that is the $64,000 question, because you're right and this is what we people make assumptions and judge. And again, it's normal human trait to judge and gather information based on what you see in front of you. It's just that you don't always see the whole person. So you're absolutely right. You can be thin, but smoke 60 cigarettes a day, you're not going to be healthy.
00:10:03
You can have a body like Thor, but you're taking steroids on all the wrong foods. Yeah, absolutely. And you don't need to be a stick to be healthy. You don't need to be rake thin to be healthy. We define health as looking at our body functioning the way it was designed to function.
00:10:30
So all our organs are functioning well. They're all happy, they're healthy, they're flowing. If you're doing blood tests, all your organ bloods are lovely. If you're looking at the way our body actually functions, it's our metabolism is really the key. So we look at metabolism, and metabolism is really the way our body uses energy.
00:10:53
So when we're in complete balance, then we don't get tired. We have to sleep. So that's obvious.
00:11:04
But if you've got adequate sleep, you're actually functioning throughout the day. You're not suddenly drinking 15 coffees to get yourself through the day. You just feel well. And I know that sounds a bit sort of wanky, but so many people don't feel well and they get used to not feeling well, and they think that's normal. They think it's normal to have to be bloated, that it's normal to be tired in the afternoons, that it's normal to have some joint pains.
00:11:32
None of that's normal. It's normal to feel amazing and it's normal to have great energy, and it's normal that you're not starving all the time. That's what's normal.
00:11:47
The Champagne Lounge isn't just a podcast. It's an instant digital community for ambitious businesswomen and entrepreneurs like you wanting more connection, community and celebration. So wherever you are in the world, whatever stage of business you're at, if you're looking for that ultimate female cheer squad of like minded women, head over to thechampainlounge.com to come and join us.
00:12:12
I love that. And I've got so many ways I can sort of take this now, because also when you say it's not normal, but it is someone's normal, right? It is someone's normal to eat certain foods, not quite figure out what that food is or what's caused bloating or pain or joint issues. And I know if I look to myself, I'd go, thatchy sounds pretty scary for me to go even understand all that and do all the hard stuff in terms of nutting out, what's going to cause those issues and what I need to cut out. And I know I'm not alone in going the side effects aren't necessarily like a bad thing.
00:12:48
This all sounds really complicated in my everyday world. So for anyone that's listening to this conversation going, oh, there are kind of some red flags. Like, you've made me think about it. Now, what are the kind of things that they can be doing to almost find what the issue is, but also what's the path within those twelve weeks to get to feeling what should be normal? Yeah, absolutely.
00:13:13
Part of the reason we've chosen real life medicine, again, as our name, is that we wholeheartedly believe in real food. So eating real food is like a foundational point. When food is medicine, you can absolutely treat and reverse many medical and health conditions just by changing what you eat, not how much. So you don't have to starve, you don't have to be hungry, it's simply changing what you eat and it has profound effects on our health and the way our body runs. So for a lot of the things our brain is so complex but simple, what it's trying to do at a base level for just about everything, it tries to one, keep us safe and two, make us feel better.
00:14:12
So all of the things that we're doing are trying to make us feel better and some of them are just not that helpful long term, they help in the short term and again the example, there would be coffee. So I'm a coffee lover, I love coffee, I have two cups a day. I used to have about eight, and I needed to have eight because I was exhausted. And once I sorted out my metabolism, got my energy flowing, I didn't need eight cups a day. But if you'd said to me at the time, Lucy, you just need to cut out your coffee, I would have gone, no, because I don't know what I'll die.
00:14:50
I won't have any energy. Yeah. And so it's not about taking away people's coping things they're using to cope, to cope, but it's about giving them other options and then they won't need them. It's the same with the people that use sugar to help them through the day. A little pick me up, a little treat, just saying to somebody will stop it, don't do that, that doesn't work because it feels hard and punishing whereas when you take away their need for it, then it's easy.
00:15:25
And I think that's part of the story with weight loss is we've been told it's hard, the battle, the struggle. And there's this story in our mind that it has to be hard. And part of the reason for that is that the advice for so long, for so many of us, was that you need to eat less and move more. You need to stop eating so much. So you'd be surviving on salad with no dressings and toast with no butter and lean.
00:15:53
Yeah, all the things I know diet food, I called it diet food I'd eat yogurts that tasted disgusting with horrible sweetness in them, but it was going to help me lose weight. No wonder it felt hard. It can actually be can actually be really easy. And the key is often not what you take out, but what you add in that makes it easy. Yeah, I love that.
00:16:21
I love that you've gone. You don't have to take away all the I'm going to call them fun things. Right. You don't have to take out the butter and the wine and the chocolate and whatever. It's just actually understanding how it fits into how you run, how your body has metabolizes, and really getting into a vibe where you're not feeling sluggish.
00:16:37
Really sluggish and achy, I think, is probably the two big things, right? Yeah, absolutely. Sluggish, achy, frumpy, like blur. If you feel blur yeah. Then you're not thriving.
00:16:53
And again, I know it's a cliche, but that surviving versus thriving. When you're thriving, you go, oh, my God, I feel so good. Yeah. It's almost like a dream state sometimes, isn't it, really? Which is something that you can have long term if you actually focused on it.
00:17:09
Yeah. And I think the tricky thing is, and again, I guess this is like lots of advice from people, is there are people out there giving advice on, for example, how to lose weight? I mean, there's a million people giving advice on that. And it doesn't have to be hard. It's interesting.
00:17:29
The body is complex. It's super complex. Our body. Like, when I look at all the processes that are involved and I've got a little slide, it's overwhelming. You don't need to know all of those processes.
00:17:39
You don't need to understand all of those processes. But there is reasons, scientific reasons, behind why we recommend what we do based on that science, not just on some Facebook groups, person saying, do this, do that. I think that's part of it. There's so much we use this funny phrase, myth information out there. And it's like lots of things, isn't it?
00:18:05
It's like money. Do you get your share advice from some Facebook group or business, all of those sorts of stuff. You really just want to know that the person who's giving you advice is actually qualified to do so. Yeah. And that was one of the big things, is that you and Mary, in building this, are both GPS and medical professions and bringing that expertise to the forefront.
00:18:30
And in doing so, taking your qualifications and your careers and doing things differently, have you come up against anything within the industry, within the health industry, where you're doing things differently? So people are questioning it. Where's the battle been from building a business perspective for you doing things differently in your industry? Yeah. Interesting.
00:18:52
No, certainly not from our other colleagues. No pushback. In fact, we have quite a lot of doctors doing our programs because doctors are just humans as well. And doctors as I did, fall into the same diet industry trap the busy, not prioritizing your own care, caring for everybody else, they're just the same. So knowledge is one aspect, but it's not everything.
00:19:20
So, no, we haven't had really much pushback from that. The biggest thing for us, and we often talk about this, is we know a lot about doctoring, we know a lot about health, we know a lot about weight loss. I didn't know anything about online courses or how to set up all that stuff, emails or any of that jazz. We had to learn all of that. And I think, like, health and like, everything is it's always evolving.
00:19:47
Like you don't just do something and then stop. It's not a set and forget. No. And I think, like everything, it's a bit like a garden. You plant it and there's a lot of effort in planting and getting preparing the soil and all that sort of stuff.
00:20:02
You plant it and then you come along and you go, Ah, right, those lettuces are in the wrong spot. I'll need to move them for next. You know those roses? I don't actually like those ones. I'm going to change them and just constantly.
00:20:17
If you don't do that, I think doing nothing, you can't just be stagnant, constant maintenance. And thanks there, Lisa. You've just reminded me of all the gardening I've got to do in the house that I willfully ignore. Oh, I know. At least you can outsource gardening.
00:20:35
You can't really outsource your health. That is very true. That is very true. And it's so important to keep us vitally going and doing all the fun activities that we as women and as business owners want to go and do. And so you touched on the fact that you've learned the business side of stuff since starting real life medicine.
00:20:54
One of the things I love to explore is how you celebrate the milestones. One of my big things is as women, we don't celebrate enough. We don't acknowledge the steps we've done and the things that we're doing. We just constantly strive, strive, strive. So what have been the biggest milestones that you ladies have hit in building real life medicine and how do you celebrate that?
00:21:14
So I guess our first milestone look, we celebrate quite a bit in that Mary and I often just tell each other, oh, you're awesome. In fact, she got me this cup that I have here which just says, you're awesome. Keep that shit. Yes, I love that. And so every couple of days I'll just get that out, particularly if I'm feeling slightly less than awesome, which is normal to have the waxing and waning of mood and confidence and all of those.
00:21:44
But our biggest milestone was that when we hit a million dollars in revenue from our courses. So that for us was like, imagine if we ever did that. And then we did it. So we bought ourselves these rings, which I've got here to show you, and they're gorgeous. I know, they are beautiful.
00:22:04
And they're made by an Australian woman called Kate, and the ring is called the celebration ring. So we ah, so I bought a blue one and Mary got a green one because that's our colors are aqua, navy and green. And in our behind the scenes life, I always tell Mary I'm the blue wiggle and she's the green wiggle.
00:22:28
So. We got blue and green wiggle rings and I just look at that because every now and then and again, this is the same. In fact, this was my little chat this morning on my Facebook Live was this idea, know you're here and you want to be here, so here and you want to be there. And then we're moving towards it and we're constantly focusing on the gap, how far to go? I'm still not there yet.
00:22:51
I'll never get there. I don't know when I'm getting there. And honestly, we all just need to come back and go, how far have I come?
00:23:01
Oh, I love that it's so important to acknowledge those small stages because you don't realize how far you've come when you're really striving for that, next thing, you don't actually look back and go, I did that. Go me. I know you sort of start taking it for granted, take for granted that I can whip up a landing page in about half an hour and I think, wow, there are people out there that's still learning that.
00:23:28
I had to learn that and yeah, now you just go, yeah, that just becomes second nature, easy peasy. And you forget how far you've come. Yeah, definitely. So Lose, my final question for you. You're on the Champagne Lounge podcast because you're a member of our beautiful community and you jumped in after our connection at the retreat that we were both at.
00:23:52
What has been that spark for you inside the community that made you go, I want to be part of that and I just want to be surrounded by the people inside. Look, honestly, Beck, without tooting your trumpet too loud, it was you, you're magnetic. And so I just thought, oh, I've got to go be friends with this girl. So she's amazing. And I think that human connection is powerful and keeping again, bit like gardening, it's a bit of work, you can't just do it once and then ghost somebody.
00:24:29
And I think for me, we joined for the year at least, because I thought, right, I know the time in which I joined, I thought, I know. I've got a busy period coming up where we doing some behind the scenes work with our messaging and all sorts of things with real life medicine, which did require. I knew that I was going to have to put in a bit of hard yards at work. But knowing that that lounge is there for me and that those women are all there. Cheering, supporting, nurturing, loving.
00:25:01
Like, it's just it is the key. And I was thinking a bit about this with the women's soccer, of course, which has just happened, and when women support women, magic happens. And if you're fostering a community of that support, because it can sometimes be hard, I think women have had to fight for their own rights for so long, fight for gender equality, that we sometimes get into a bit of fight mode. And that fight mode is not helpful. It's not actually who we are.
00:25:36
Nobody. We don't like it, it's not authentic. But when we are in support, nurture, rise mode, then that's great. Yeah, you've nailed that. In terms of community connection, the support we need to succeed in both business, health, life, and it doesn't have to be there.
00:25:55
Twenty four seven. Right. Just knowing that it's there to jump in and jump out of is really what you need at your fingertips, regardless of what part of the journey that you're on, which is just phenomenal. Totally. I mean, life is I know.
00:26:10
Who was it? It was Forrest Gumpy said, life is like a box of chocolates, but I actually think life's more like a smorgasbord. You actually pick from it what you need. You don't have to eat everything, you don't have to do everything, but you just choose what suits you and then enjoy it. Enjoy it.
00:26:26
Yes. And on that note, Lizzy, I have loved every minute of this podcast conversation and I think there's been some golden nuggets for our listeners to take away. I'm obviously going to put your contact details and Real Life Medicine deets in the show notes of the podcast. I love having you in the community, I love being able to call you a friend and I loved having you on the show. So thank you so much for joining me.
00:26:47
You're having me. It's been a pleasure and an honor. Thanks for listening to the Champagne Lounge podcast. If you'd love to be part of our thriving global community, head over to thechampainlounge.com to join us.