EDIT: I had a powerful experience while on a walk after I posted this and it lead me to identifying 2 new types of hunger that have played a powerful impact on my life and I had been confusing it with Emotional Hunger. The reason I wanted to identify each of these is because they 1) each present differently and 2) have different needs that they meet. Some of the solutions may be the same as others but there are distinct differences that I feel are important. DM me if you are interested and I can email you the newest version as I keep making updates as I am learning. Original Post: Wow. This community sure has grown!!! I believe I was the first or second member and I haven't checked in for a while. I spoke with Vasi about a program that I have been working on and she encouraged me to share some information here. I created this brief introduction page to my program. I call it Metabolic Rehab; The Feasting/Fasting Method. I believe that a lot of the problems that people have with food and weight stem back to not recognizing hunger. I started developing a theory years ago that seems to have proven true through my experience and work. I am an addiction counselor and I see similarities with my clients to what I experienced trying to heal my metabolism. Then Dr. Jason Fung published his book The Hunger Code which I read as soon as it came out in March 2026 to see if it validated my experience. He shared his idea that there are 3 types of hunger. My experience identified 6; his first three types seem insufficient to what else I see going on so I started to create my program. This is the briefest introduction to what I plan to cover in my program. I plan to introduce each type, provide strategies to help people identify each type and eliminate some so that they don't have to fight hunger and cravings. After all, if we aren't hungry... it's easy to say no.

Where do you feel stuck? What feels challenging? This can be regarding health or wellness, or any other area of life. We are here to help each other thrive…every day and in every way! Let’s support each other in overcoming our challenges. If you’re doing amazing and not experiencing anything tricky, share what’s working for you! You can share in the comments below or start a new post. Remember to interact with the comments and posts of other Thrivers :)

Votes are in! Our next Books to Thrive book is Dr. Laurel Mellin’s book , What’s My Number? A tiny book that packs a strong punch and teaches us simple tools for emotional resilience! One simple tool you can use, starting today is the simple statement…”I am creating joy in my life!” Say this to yourself as you get up in the morning, and before you go to bed at night. Throughout the day, notice any moments or situations that bring you joy. Those are referred to as Joy Points. At the end of the day, reflect on the Joy points you experienced that day. Score another Joy point by thinking about each moment that brought you joy! This is a simple yet powerful way to start building your JOY muscle. When you allow yourself to experience dopamine hits from the joyful experiences that occur daily in your life, the drive to turn to external dopamine solutions like overeating, shopping or scrolling endlessly, can naturally start to fade. I have used Dr. Mellin’s system for developing emotional resilience and overcoming addictive behavior off and on, for years, having done one of her programs in college. This little book includes some of her latest tools and discoveries. We use Dr. Laurel Mellin’s tools weekly in virtual and in-person support group sessions. Come to our Premium meetings to try them out yourself! I can attest to how powerful they are in helping us move through and rise above challenges in our lives. @Jenn Lukesh , @Elie Malloy, @Tammy Perry , @Stacey Hopner , @Carin Chantel , @Adriana Skura-Palmer, feel free to share any of your experiences with these tools in the comments below :) We will read and discuss What’s My Number? at Books to Thrive meetings, starting next week. Books to Thrive is open to everyone in the community! You can get the book for free on Libby, at your local library, or purchase it on Amazon

This is probably NOT one of those inspirational stories you come across; it's a work in progress. I wanted to share it because healing is not a straight line... It's a journey with ups and downs, twists and turns. I started gaining weight in my late 30s. At first, I did what many of us do. Crash diets. Lose 20 pounds. Gain it back. Repeat. Each time it got harder. Slower. More frustrating. What I did not realize was that I was fighting symptoms, not the root cause. There is always more to our weight story. I have been living with fibromyalgia, autoimmunity, and chronic inflammation for most of my 30s and 40s. I had flare-ups, but my regular Reiki and Energy practice had kept them to a minimum. Then in 2020, I got sick in a way that brought all of it to the surface at once. Recovery took much longer than I expected. And when your health collapses, you stop asking surface-level questions. You start asking the real ones. What does healing actually mean? How does the body heal? Why is it not responding the way I expect it to? In 2021, I started to work with a personal trainer. It was hard, but I kept showing up. The progress was sloth speed...I am not even kidding. I am no stranger to cardio, but weight training was new to me. At the end of that year, I realized that I was stronger than I thought (I could leg press 300lbs) This is the part of the story where you expect to hear...and I lost the weight and lived happily ever after. Nope, I didn't lose a pound. I gained a little bit of muscle and a whole lot of confidence. For me, it wasn't about those 30 lbs. I can rock it, I am all self-love. For me, the weight was putting pressure on my joints that kept getting inflamed, which kept kicking my fibromyalgia into flare-ups. It was a vicious cycle coupled with all the perimenopause symptoms. It was the whole kitchen sink and then some. I tried everything. Keto. Carnivore. Vegan. Juicing. Cleanses. If it existed, I probably tried it. None addressed what was actually happening inside my body.

Below is my pledge. I wasn’t ready to do it yet the last few days since we had some brown rice in the fridge that I wanted to have, but now I’m ready! To learn more about the 30-day pledge and create your own, check out this post. Then start your own Personal Accountability Thread Category post so you can check in about your pledge! ————————————- I, Vasi Smith, pledge to let go of Consuming processed sugar, dairy, and all grains for the next 30 days. I choose this because my gut health matters. These ingredients cause inflammation and other gut problems for me. I further pledge to daily write down 3-5 important and exciting goals, create a video of any length, and continue doing at least 10 minutes of intentional movement like yoga, dance, or strength training. I choose this because these practices will help me to be more intentional in my life, and support my health and vitality. If I miss a day during these next 30 days, for whatever reason, I will shower myself with love and compassion. I will start the 30 day count again on the following day, with commitment to my pledge. I will start over as many times as necessary. I deserve to give myself this purposeful time and truly see how I feel when I follow this pledge. I deserve to live a life of health, vitality, and purpose. Signed, Vasi Smith ——————— Anyone who has done the pledge or is considering doing the pledge can make a daily or weekly post about it under the Personal Accountability Thread Caregory. Are you ready to make your own 30-day pledge??