Episode 2: Weight Matters: Exploring the Link Between Obesity, Inflammation, and Cancer Risk

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Episode Summary:

Welcome Listeners!

Hey everyone! Thanks for tuning in today. We've got an incredible guest, Mary Welch, whose story and expertise are truly inspiring.

She’s a double board-certified oncology nurse practitioner, a certified weight loss coach, and so much more.

Today, we're diving into how simple changes in your daily habits can lead to huge improvements in your health.

Meet Mary Welch:

Who’s Mary? A dedicated wife and mother, and also someone who's lost 80 pounds and turned her life around.

What’s her mission? Mary created ‘Weight Loss to Wellness’ to help others kickstart their health journeys after seeing the impacts of lifestyle diseases in her own life and in her work.

What We’re Talking About Today:

Mary’s Journey: She’s here to share her personal story—from weight loss to wellness guru.

Lifestyle Choices and Cancer: We're unpacking how what you eat affects your risk of cancer and other diseases.

Eating Smart Post-Cancer: Mary will give us insights into how nutrition plays a role in cancer recovery.

From Losing Weight to Gaining Health: It’s not just about shedding pounds, but gaining a healthier lifestyle.

Top Tips: Mary will drop some practical advice for anyone looking to live healthier.

Listener Q&A: You asked, Mary answers! Get ready for some eye-opening responses.

Wrapping Up:

Mary's all about making better choices and she’s here to guide us. If you're looking to revamp how you eat and think about health, you’re in the right place.

Stay Connected with Mary:

Want more from Mary? Check out her website https://www.weightlosstowellness.org/ and download her free gift: Quick Start Guide To Decrease Inflammation Easily

and follow her on Linked In: .

Thanks for Listening!

Loved this episode?

Share it with a friend who might benefit from Mary’s wisdom, and don’t forget to subscribe for more awesome content.

Catch you next time as we continue exploring ways to transform our health and our lives!

Transcript:

Today I'm very excited because I have a nurse practitioner going on and she's brilliant.

Today, I'm honored to introduce my next guest, Mary Welch.

Now, Mary is a mother, a wife, a double board certified oncology nurse practitioner, and a no BS certified weight loss coach.

She's a community educator and a passionate advocate of eating and thinking smarter.

I love this.

We need it so bad, don't we?

Mary is convinced that a healthy life is within reach.

We all need to know that we can't just give up.

And she's spreading the message that the fastest way to change her health is to change what's on your fork.

We'll all agree with that for sure.

What a wonderful thing.

And her success is amazing.

After losing 80 pounds and witnessing the consequences of

lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cancer, and dementia,

She founded Weight Loss to Wellness to empower others

to get started on their health journey.

Now, she especially enjoys, and this is very near and dear to my heart.

She especially enjoys guiding cancer survivors along the

path to better health with one to one and group coaching.

So, Mary, I know you deal with so many different things, but what really

stood out to me when I read your bio was the connection to how

lifestyle choices are connected to cancer risk and of course, obesity.

So I would love for you to, you know, elaborate on that.

But what I'm going to ask you first is, how did you get into this?

You've been a nurse. You've been an oncology nurse,

a nurse practitioner, for goodness sakes.

You have everything.

Yeah.

Oh, so I'm so excited to be here.

Thank you for having me, first of all.

And, yeah, life leads you where you are to go.

I truly believe that.

And honestly, I was in the struggle myself.

So I think when you're in that struggle or mess and you get out of it,

then your message is to help others.

So back in 2016, 2018, I had put on a bunch of weight.

Being a yo yo dieter most of my life, it was very frustrating because

I felt like I was smart, I was professional, I was educated,

I knew all about health.

Yet, here I was dealing with weight.

And as my mom was dealing with dementia,

I didn't realize it, but I was stuffing my emotions with food.

And by the time she passed away,

I was, like, stage two obesity.

My BMI was 37 or 38.

I couldn't button my lab coat around my hips.

I felt like such a hypocrite, telling patient to get healthy,

and they're looking at me like, well, what about you.

I had a young child.

I'm an older mother, so I had turned 50 and thought

I would lose weight, and I hadn't.

And it was very much, I would say, in despair. I didn't realize it.

I was reading books and getting knowledge, and one of the books I read

was a book about intermittent fasting, and that was a new concept to me.

And I thought, wow,

it sounds easy.

And they started talking about insulin and other things, like, well,

maybe something like this would work.

And then I started reading a little more about inflammation,

and I was like, oh, that's interesting.

And so I was packing stuff away,

and then I ended up going to a medical education conference

for oncology nurses.

And one of the speakers,

Ann Katz, had a book called Obesity and Cancer,

and she was the first speaker.

And I sat in that audience, and I'm like, well,

I wonder what she has to say about this.

And I'm a little embarrassed to say.

Although I have worked in oncology my entire career,

I didn't realize what a huge impact extra weight had on cancer growth.

So I'm sitting there, and my population at the time, gyn, oncology, and

especially uterine and demetrial cancer, and she said, well,

depending on your weight, it could be quadruple to seven times the risk of

the normal population for developing cancer.

And I was like, wow.

And I am one of those people.

I never smoke cigarettes because I didn't want lung cancer.

And suddenly I was like, I need to do something about this weight.

I don't know what it is, because I've lost weight and gained it back.

But I left there really determined to figure out how to lose weight for the

last time, really, without any gimmicks.

And again, the right person came into my path.

So I left there and ended up meeting a nurse practitioner who helped me,

and she did a five day challenge.

I remember thinking it was so simple. It was like, okay, drink water.

And I'm like, okay, I can drink water.

And then it's like, you know, make a healthy meal and add some

vegetables and actually cook it.

You know, get a recipe, go to the store, get the stuff, move your body.

I think it was, you know, just look for hidden sugars and things.

And it was amazing.

When I started looking at labels,

I was like, wow, salad dressing had sugar in it, sauces had sugar in it.

And at the end, there was an opportunity to get on the phone,

and I hired her.

And she was talking about gut health,

and I didn't know much about that either.

And once she talked to me, it was not only the food, but everything.

I think as a busy professional where you're managing a career

and a family, she knew right away that I barely made my list.

You know, I was caring for my patients, caring for my son,

caring for my husband and my pets.

And she said, where are you on your list?

And I was way down at the bottom.

And she said, you know, that gets to change today.

And a lot of it was very simple.

She thought, what do you do?

Do you bring a lunch to work? And I'm like, well, no,

I hope I get to the dining room to pick up something, but often that doesn't happen.

And I don't know if you've ever been in a medical office or infusion center

where I work, but grateful patients are always bringing in donuts and

bagels or someone's having a birthday or a potluck.

But unfortunately, most of these things are not healthy,

and that's what I would be eating.

So going for the pizza or the bagel or the donut and nothing with nutrients.

So she thought, guess what?

You get to start bringing your food.

And it was more food than I ate usually,

but it was protein rich food, nutrient dense food,

lots of healthy vegetables.

And as I got off all the processed food and sugar, my energy soared.

The pounds really melted off easily, and I felt better and better.

And I thought, wow, who knew that?

Just simply changing your attitude and your approach.

And it wasn't like super low calorie. She's all, no, you can have fat.

I'm like, really?

She'll put the avocado on it.

I'm like, but it's full of calories. It doesn't matter. They're good calories.

Like retraining your brain.

Yeah, it's, you know, it's interesting because,

you know, the proverbial eat and go diet that most

health professionals are on,

where they run to the cafeteria or the station at a room

that's your break room,

look for whatever's there, shove it in your throat and go back.

So it's like eat and go and grab and go, rather.

And it's just a terrible situation for the healthcare professionals,

especially because they feel they can't leave their patients.

Right.

But to think that you were introduced to something

that really worked beautifully with you.

So what I'm really curious about is,

because you have such a vast experience with oncology,

patients with cancer.

Talk a little bit about that.

Now, I know from

what I know, sugar feeds the cancer cells, right?

So talk to us about that.

Yeah.

So there's some controversy around that because some people

will stop eating anything with sugar,

including fruit and berries.

And those are really good because they're loaded with fiber and nutrients

and all kinds of phytonutrients in that it's more the added sugar

in processed food.

And it is in an unnatural state, separated from fiber,

that just spikes your blood sugar up to a very high level.

So we're talking about the people that get those sugary coffees,

and you're starting your day with double pumps of caramel and sugar.

You've had 600 calories of carbohydrate sugar without any nutrients,

and your insulin level goes way up.

And that just creates a bunch of inflammation in your body that

sodas are in the same category.

They're finding even diet sodas can give your brain that sense that

something sweet is coming.

And I was a Diet Coke person for a long time,

and in my mind, I'm like, well, there's no calories.

How could they be bad for you?

Well, your brain's getting that signal that something sweet is coming.

And when there's no calories attached to it, it makes you crave other things.

So then you're going for this knicker bar or the doughnut,

or these very easy,

processed carbs that cause inflammation,

that don't have fiber,

that really can fuel your body.

And part of the issue with the sugar is that it leads to fat.

And I think ultimately it's the fat that can lead to cancer growth.

Because when you have extra fat, especially in women, that's a place

where you have extra estrogen.

And the fat isn't just hanging there, being a muffin top,

it's an endocrine organ.

So you start getting more estrogen floating through, stimulating things like

uterine cancer, breast cancer.

And it starts with sugar, though.

If you eat more sugar than your body can store in the muscles or in

the liver, it converts that sugar to fat.

And people don't know that.

So it's not the sugar, it's more that the sugar becomes fat,

and the fat creates hormones that drive the cancer.

So, interesting. Wow.

And are there certain types of cancer, or is it all cancers that this affects?

Well, there's 13 that are really driven by obesity.

Some of the very common ones, like breast cancer, uterine cancer,

colon cancer, pancreas cancer, some lymphomas.

So across the board,

maintaining a healthy diet and getting to a healthy weight

can lower the risk for cancer.

The thought is that we can decrease our risk of cancer by half with lifestyle,

which includes getting a healthy weight,

moving your body, not smoking, wearing sunscreen.

And it would be my goal that I stopped seeing people vaccination too.

We've seen a big drop in cervical cancer with the hpv vaccine,

and it's one of those things that it's a little controversial and

not everyone buys into it, but it saves lives

in general.

What do you normally recommend women do as far as screening?

Because we have so many things we have to screen

and people don't know.

how often do you have to do this, that type of thing?

So where do you fit there?

Right.

So for colon cancer screening, the age recommendation is 45.

To start with, the screening colonoscopy would be the gold standard.

But if you don't do that, do at least a stool test looking for blood.

This is the one screening test that can actually prevent a cancer,

because if they see a polyp and remove it,

that can lower the risk of cancer ever developing.

But you don't know if you have a polyp until you go looking for it.

So I know it's not the most fun thing,

but hey, it's a day or two and you might lose a few pounds.

So, well worth it.

And the age of this screening recommendation has gone down.

It used to be 50, now it's 45.

What we're seeing is cancers are starting at a younger age

and I truly believe it's our food supply and the obesity in this country.

Same with breast cancer.

When I first started out,

it was rare to see breast cancer prior to the age of 50.

Now there's a lot of ladies that are sadly seeing us shortly

after childbirth, in their thirties, forties.

So breast cancer screening, I believe, starts around the age 40.

Mammogram yearly, unless you're told to do it every two years.

Some people are in different studies where they might.

Same with cervical cancer screening, getting a pap smear.

And anytime.

Once you have not had a period and you're in menopause, any

postmenopausal bleeding is abnormal, even if it's a spot.

If you've not had a period for a year

and you're suddenly bleeding, run to your doctor,

because that could be an early endometrial cancer

and you do not want to ignore that.

And that's certainly something that if it's caught early, you could be cured with surgery.

And if it's something we ignore, which often is busy women, you're like, oh,

it's only a little spotty.

And it stopped.

I'm just not going to go back. Yeah, I'm busy.

I'll do it later.

Yes, it could be a much bigger problem.

So pay attention, ladies.

If your body's telling you something, don't ignore it.

What's the first, what's the first step when someone comes to you?

Is it because they're at risk for cancer or they already have it,

or is it just people with obesity?

How do you start to figure that out?

Right, so I work with a variety of people.

Really, there's several ways.

So as far as someone working with me,

number one, they have to have the desire to change.

And I think I was stuck in almost not wanting to do that.

I was frustrated.

I was up and down for two years.

I was out my high weight, and I really thought about,

maybe I'll just embrace this oversized body,

buy cute clothes

and the whole body love movement.

And I think you could love yourself at any size.

But ultimately, I couldn't ignore that this weight was causing inflammation.

It was decreasing my lifespan and would

impact my health down the road.

So with that, I embarked on my journey.

And I think you meet people where you're at.

Some people are ready to change a lot of things all at once,

and that's great.

They'll get very fast results, but

it doesn't matter if you're not ready to do everything.

If you do a 1% to 5% change and you're consistent over time and

you're heading in the right direction,

and it takes five or ten years, who cares?

I think the diet culture's like, you gotta do this gimmick

that's not sustainable.

And I talked to one of my clients.

She was dealing with her mom with dementia.

She was a busy nurse, she wanted to lose weight.

She had extra weight.

And my more intensive program,

oh, no, that would just stress me out more.

And it's like, okay, let's figure out what you need to do for you so

you can individualize.

And part of it was you actually get to take some time for yourself

and for self care and take a break and go for a walk.

And she lost weight just having permission to look after herself.

And she's like, you know, I started shopping and I'm eating a little better

because she wasn't cooking at home.

And it's like, well, now what do you think you could do?

And you meet people where you're at?

And I really believe you start stacking habits that once you get good at

one thing, then you can add another thing.

And when you see success there,

you're like, you know what?

I feel this much better let me do that.

And that's what my coach did for me.

It's like, what's the low hanging fruit?

And what can you get quick wins with and do that for a bit and once that

gets good,

add something else and everyone's going to be a bit different.

And I honestly think that's the value of a coach.

And firstly,

I felt a little, would you say?

I wouldn't say resisted, but I almost felt like,

I don't almost feel that I need a coach because I know all this stuff,

but knowing and implementing yourself is a totally different thing because

when I was being coached, I'm like, I could teach all this stuff,

but I wasn't doing it.

So, you know, it's the shoemaker's kid with no shoes.

Right.

And it's not uncommon that you find coaches without a coach.

I can imagine not having had actually a few different coaches

throughout my time.

You know, one for business, one for personal, one for, you know,

it's, that's what I mean. It's critical.

If you really want to succeed with any program,

you need the guidance better together.

We all do better if we have the teamwork.

So that's wonderful. Wonderful.

So your program,

we're going to talk a little bit about.

We're talking about your coaching.

Now, you have a program.

Do you do group coaching or how does that work?

Yeah, so I have a group program and everyone together kind of goes

through a metabolic reset for a short six weeks.

We take away a lot of the foods that can cause irritation and

inflammation in the body.

So it's really a gut healing program that often gets amazing results.

So for a temporary time,

you go off things like gluten, dairy, alcohol added sugar,

and you're eating a very clean, nutrient rich diet of healthy proteins, lots of

vegetables, fruit for dessert.

But, you know, you're off things like bread, rice, pasta, and for a while

you're like, what can I eat?

If that's your main food groups?

So I wanted to just pause here and go back to the connection to cancer.

Obesity and cancer.

Have you felt that more people that had obesity,

I mean, that more cancer patients had suffered from obesity,

or is that just not.

Some people say, well, you know, if I, if I have cancer,

I'm, I'm a rail, you know, I lose so much weight and all that stuff.

Yeah, that's what you would think.

And honestly, after that lecture on obesity and cancer,

I started paying attention to the new cancer patients that were coming in

and all of these uterine cancer patients,

I just would take a look at their weight.

And I'm like, BMI 48, which is pretty obese.

The biggest one I saw, I think, was 61.

And often, they're often young.

Some of these people are in their early thirties, forties,

with basically a metabolic syndrome, and they're having PCOS, just

symptoms or infertility, and then they're getting worked up.

It's like, oh, you have atypical cells when they do a pap,

and then it turns out that you have early uterine cancer.

And I think that's a great time.

If they can link these abnormal cells before their cancer to wait, if they can

really focus on weight loss.

And sometimes that's not mentioned, which I think is tragic because it's a

very teachable moment when you could say,

now is a good reason for me to really focus on what I'm doing.

And honestly,

it's not hard, but it takes dedication, it's different.

And I think knowing you're doing it for a benefit can help.

And it's a lifestyle, for sure.

Yes, very much so.

So I know we're coming to a close soon, but I want to ask you a little bit

about the free gift you're going to offer all these viewers.

Yeah.

So it's a quick start guide to decrease inflammation easily, and it has six steps.

That reminder to do things like get enough sleep, move your body,

drink water.

So I hope you find it that very helpful.

It's those simple things that we don't always do.

So it's a good reminder.

You could pick one, you could do them all,

and it will definitely help you get healthier, less inflamed,

and with less inflammation,

your cells are happier and you lower cancer risk.

Weight comes off easily, too.

So, Mary, how do people get in touch with you?

I know your contact is going to be in the, in the notes with the podcast,

but what's the best way? Email? Phone? Email's the best, probably.

Okay. Yeah, phone is fine, too.

You know, they can certainly just text me on.

You have a website that we're going to include?

And that's weightlostowellness.org.

So perfect.

Well, thank you so much. I so appreciate this wisdom in that

brilliant mind of yours to share with this audience today.

People are going to really have a good.

I mean, just listening to the importance of eating healthy,

what an incredible thing to help you not only ward off cancer,

maybe heal from cancer, or just be aware.

Be aware that if you don't eat healthy, some things, something,

anything can come up.

So please listen to Mary she's amazing.

And I thank you for being at this podcast today.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.