Podcast: Martha Mok on Weight Loss, Self-Love, and Super Confidence

Join Dr. Orlena on this inspiring episode of Fit and Fabulous as she introduces the incredible Martha Mok, a confidence coach dedicated to empowering women over 40.

Martha shares her deeply personal journey of battling weight issues from a young age, overcoming significant life challenges, and finding self-love and confidence.

Discover how Martha's transformative experiences and unique insights can help you embrace your true self, prioritize your health, and build a life filled with super confidence.

Tune in for practical tips, heartfelt stories, and a powerful message that will motivate you to take charge of your well-being and happiness.

Don't miss this uplifting conversation that promises to inspire and empower you!

Join Martha's FB group:
Yeah the Girls 40 + Australia: https://www.facebook.com/groups/389289909991275
Yeah the Girls 40 + International: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1577584446358129

Mentioned in the Podcast

1. Free Workshop: "How to Lose Weight, Keep It Off, and Lead a Vibrant Life." This interactive session will cover essential strategies for achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Sign up here: https://www.drorlena.com/vibrant-life-workshop

2. Interested in working with Dr Orlena and having her support as you transform your life? Book a call! Click the link and find a time that works for you: http://drorlena.com/book-a-call-fb

3. Story Feature: Dr. Orlena invites women over 40 who are struggling with their weight to share their stories on the podcast. Share your journey and inspire others by signing up for a story feature, book here: https://bookme.name/drorlena/record-story-on-podcast-on-fit-and-fabulous

4. Get a Review copy of "Building Simple Habits to a Healthy Me": https://www.drorlena.com/book-dr-orlena

5. Donate to the OncoSwim: https://oncolligagirona.cat/oncos/oncoswim/donacions/equip/1087-international-swimmers.html (Or send via PayPal to [email protected])

Transcript of Podcast

Dr Orlena: Hello. Hello. Welcome to Fit and Fabulous with me, Dr. Orlena. I'm super excited today because this is the first of a new feature on the podcast and it's called Your Story. And it's really about someone coming on and telling us their story of struggles and wins and struggles and wins. We know how it goes and inspiring them, hopefully.

Dr Orlena: Fingers crossed. We'll see. Today I would like to introduce Martha Mock. Hello, Martha. Thank you so much for coming and spending some time with us.

Martha Mok: Thank you so much for having me today. It's been a wonderful day.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. Would you like to start by introducing yourself and just telling people a little bit about you? And you're welcome to pitch your amazing Facebook group that I know you have, so feel free to mention that.

Martha Mok: Definitely. Hi, everyone. My name is Martha Mok. I'm a confidence coach from super confident coaching. What I do is I help women to feel amazing about themselves so they can speak up, be heard regardless of their age and shape. I do want a Facebook group called yeah, the girl 40 plus, we have an Australian group as well as a worldwide group.

Martha Mok: We help women. that who are over 40 to feel amazing again despite what's happening.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. And I have to say, I'm in those groups and they're really vibrant, energetic, helpful groups. There's a really good community. I will leave the link to that in the show notes. So Martha,

Martha Mok: you.

Dr Orlena: thank you so much for coming on today. And I know that it's a very personal topic to talk about our health and our weight loss.

Dr Orlena: And when I reached out and said to people, Hey, who would like to come on? You said to me, you know, I've struggled with this all my life. Would you like to start by just taking us to the beginning and telling us a little bit about what was going on for you?

Martha Mok: I think that I started to have white issues since I was in year three. That should be around the age of seven. Before that, I was skinny as a monkey. My Parents would feed me all this fat lotion just to put some weight on this little girl. And who knows of the, all the side effects now that are probably going into purity and everything.

Martha Mok: And my weight just keep increasing. And I remember that when I was in year six, I was quite a big girl. girl already. And I started to have my period at the time and I'm starting to develop boobs. Like that's still a very young age at the age 10. And I've been struggling with my weight ever since then.

Martha Mok: When I come to Australia, I just find that there's a lot less stress, which is a better place. And in Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, your life is just about like being, you must be a certain way to fit into the society. And that's what I love about being in Australia, that. We can just be who we are and be proud of it.

Martha Mok: But do I want it to lose more weight? Of course I want to. But I think the changes is that now that I'm at 46 this year, the changes is that this time I'm doing the weight loss. I'm doing all of this thing, not for anyone else, but for myself. But this time is for myself, for my own health and for my own benefit.

Martha Mok: And that's why that I love the presentation that you did last time talking about emotional eating, because it is a struggle for a lot of us. I went for my own journey of going for a 19 years abusive marriage, being bullied since a very young age and then being sexually molested by someone I trust. All of those created a trauma and a best way to overcome trauma.

Martha Mok: Food. For someone that who's not trained, what it is food, because it gives us that comfort,

Dr Orlena: Yeah, absolutely. A quick question for you. How old were you when you moved to Australia? Yeah.

Martha Mok: Tense like, you know, I think it was three days before 11.

Dr Orlena: perfect. And just, I'd like to explore a little bit more about your journey and how it's impacted you. Growing up as a teenager, okay, you're in Australia, so it's a more relaxed culture, but how did it impact you feeling, you know, I'm feeling overweight and I want to lose that weight.

Dr Orlena: How did that, what was the worst thing about it?

Martha Mok: I think that it's just the fact that we try to fit in coming from a, like someone that who's non English speaking background, my English wasn't very good. And then coming into a totally new environment, you try to be the people around you. When people do certain things, you feel like that all if I. do that as well.

Martha Mok: I'll be cool. I'll be nice. I'll be accepted. And I think it is that kind of mindset that it makes us even more worrying.

Dr Orlena: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And what, from the age of 10 to now you're 46, what kind of things did you try to lose weight?

Martha Mok: Okay. What else? I haven't tried. That's probably the better question because from diet pills, I was on a doctor's prescription diet pill that which led me into a hospital with heart irregularities. Yes, done that. I went to actually done. I have join some weight loss journey that even they gave me to like 20, 000 to lose weight.

Martha Mok: And then you have to go and do like all these activities in there, workshops and stuff like that. I've been

Dr Orlena: Didn't work.

Martha Mok: They're not really, to be honest, the one that who won the competition, the white loss competition, she was working in the gym for about five hours a day and have one apple a day. So she won, I think she was lost about probably about 20 kilos, which was a huge amount of weight to loss.

Martha Mok: I have tried. a lot, like diet pills fasting, I try cereal diet, I try many, many, many things. And I still haven't find something that really fitted me. And then as soon as that stress come, that's when I start eating. That's when I started to crave sugar and crave for all those extra comfort food to make me feel better.

Dr Orlena: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, fast forwarding a bit. I always think to people, you know, you're standing here, you've got this moment in time and you can look forward to your life thinking about, well, let me ask you a question before I ask you this question. Do you feel that you have? You're still struggling with your weight loss, or do you feel like you've made changes such that you're on track?

Martha Mok: I feel like that I have starting to change my life on track. Like one of the really important key thing is I'm with a wonderful partner at the moment. So my life is a lot more stable and settled. I have a beautiful career that I love. And also I started to do something about my health. I didn't even want to know what my health stages was like.

Martha Mok: Because I was so depressed, even say to a lot of people that I didn't even want to live more than 60 because I thought that my life was enough. That was my mindset. I didn't care what I eat. I didn't care what I drink. Didn't care anything about it. Now that everything in my life is starting to settle, I started with something.

Martha Mok: I started with water. I have got something that they call an iron dynes machine that will produce our clients, water and hydrogen water. That has been helping me to starting to have that healthy habit. It's actually quite amazing that when you're drinking enough water, your whole body is starting to change.

Dr Orlena: Yeah, yeah, and I think as well It's a slight mindset shift because when you start seeing yourself Taking care of yourself, and this is a lot of the work that I do with my clients We talk about what is our identity and my identity is I am somebody who looks after my health And I prioritize my health and I do a lot of things to, you know, pay into my health.

Dr Orlena: Now a lot of people don't have that identity and it's a bit like a smoker, you know, if I say to you do you want a cigarette? If you're a smoker, you'll probably say yes. And if you're not a smoker, you'll be like, no, why would I want to smoke a cigarette? And the same thing applies to your identity and health.

Dr Orlena: , You can change it, you can change it quickly, or you can change it over a period of time. But the more you do to show yourself, yes, I am somebody who's starting to take care of myself. Those small little shifts, you create this momentum, and then it's easier for you to make another change, and another change, and another change.

Martha Mok: I agree with you because a lot of the times that it's just a lot of us, let's be honest over here. We're all looking for that magic pill. We're looking for that one thing that will fix it just like that. But the truth is we took years to trash our body. It does take a little bit of time and the right product to help you to step back.

Martha Mok: Back in the white thing, you don't have to spend thousands on like supplements and things like that. But you do need to talk to a professional who know what they're doing. Just like you here that will guide you back into the white path. So you're not wasting money. You're not wasting your life on.

Dr Orlena: , I entirely agree. One of the reasons I do this podcast is I do see people really focusing on the wrong things. For example, I spoke to somebody the other day who said to me, Oh my goodness, I go to the gym so much. I really put my life and my heart into going to the gym and yet I'm not seeing any changes.

Dr Orlena: And it's like, well, yes, because you're focusing on the wrong things. Going to the gym is fabulous. But if you want to lose weight, you need to focus on other things such as nutrition and sleep. And, you know, if you turn to food for comfort, as you said, that's a really big piece. It's almost impossible. If you're turning to food for comfort and you're stressed, then you're just eating all the stuff that you don't want to eat and in your mind, you're saying, Oh, I eat healthily.

Dr Orlena: And then when you really think about it, it's. Accept, accept this and accept that and accept that and it's not most of the time. Okay, fabulous. , what I'm hearing you say is You are on the right track, but you still feel that you've got some more changes to make. Does that sound accurate?

Martha Mok: Definitely. I believe that the more educated I am about my health, my, about the white things to do, the more that I'm deciding to make that decision today to make a change to it. I'm currently on a health program by another a ladies that is in a group and it's good, even that I haven't follow it to the tee.

Martha Mok: Let's be honest about that. But I still see difference. I still feel my weight is starting to drop and I'm more conscious about what I eat. And I think that when you decided to get help from someone like you, that really makes a difference to say, Hey, I'm starting to become a bit more conscious and a bit more aware of my own action.

Martha Mok: Yes.

Dr Orlena: Yeah, no, totally. I totally agree with that. And I have a group program, and the women in the group program always say to me, It's so much easier to stay on track. When I actually turn up to coaching, when I do the coaching, and I think about these things, it's easy to stay on track. And then obviously, people go off, they go on holiday, life happens, stressful things happen, and they might not come to coaching for a bit, and they notice the difference.

Dr Orlena: And then they come back to coaching. And everything is so easy again, but having that accountability and that motivation. And it's not just me, it's them checking in with themselves and saying, I'm still making this a priority. I'm still doing this.

Martha Mok: Yes, that's, that's make a difference. That's really making a difference. Does that have that accountability? A lot of us that thinking about our white loss is about willpower and guess what? Willpower is the most short things that we have as a human. Otherwise, how come that we say we're going to lose weight and then we book a buffet next week?

Martha Mok: It's just, you can't just rely that on willpower and having the reason behind it, it will help you to strengthen your mindset. The second thing is having the white. Guidance with you to have that countability. That's when everything's starting to change.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. Yes, I 100 percent agree. It is not about willpower. So many people say, Oh, I lack willpower. I lack discipline. And studies have shown time and time again, it's not about willpower. It's really about how it's your mindset and how you set your life up. But I have a few more questions for you, if that's okay.

Martha Mok: Yes.

Dr Orlena: you're, you're standing here at this crossroads, and I think for everybody who is listening, this is a really valuable exercise to do. , we're going to hear Martha's answers, but if you're listening at home, please do this for yourself, because it's really about you understanding The impact of your actions.

Dr Orlena: You're standing at this crossroads, Martha, and you can carry on. Now I I'm hearing you say you're making some set changes, but for this argument, we're going to say, you're not going to make any more changes. You're just sticking where you are and you can carry on. You can. Go down the crossroad path, which is I'm not making any changes, or you can turn and make healthy, amazing changes.

Dr Orlena: And we're just going to explore a little bit of what are the pros and cons of each one. And there are benefits of not making changes. Number one, it's easy not to make changes, so that's a super benefit. But what's the cost of you not making changes? How do you envisage your life in 20 years time if you don't make any changes, if you carry on with this of trying to lose weight and turning to food for comfort?

Dr Orlena: How

Martha Mok: That is right because I think at certain stage of our life, we have, we need to actually see what is the priority as a woman. A lot of us that put our family first, put our kids first, put our career first. And one day you sit down and wondering, what do I get in return? What was my return on investment?

Martha Mok: And that's when the moment you starting to scare yourself, I'm like, Oh, you know what, I don't even know what was the exchange to be, but the one thing that is truly ours. It's our body. That is our body. So you, we have that decision to make of what do we do with our body. And now that, because you may starting to have emptiness, you may starting to actually pay more attention to your life.

Martha Mok: And maybe even as a very realistically talking that your financial status is a lot better than what you have five years ago. So if this is what happened, it is to look after the only one thing we own our body.

Dr Orlena: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, piggybacking on that. Not only is it the one thing you have, but you are the only person who can change this. Nobody else is going to do this for you. I see so many people who say, Oh yeah, I need to think about this or I need to go and talk to my husband or to other people.

Dr Orlena: And it's great to have. Other people's support, but at the end of the day, your husband, your partner, your friends, they can't make these changes for you. There's only one person who is responsible for your body, and that, my friend, is, is you. So, for you, Martha, what were some of the things that you, before you started making changes, what were some of the things that you were scared of, that you, you look forward and think, Yeah, you know what, I actually don't want to think about that, I'm so terrified of that.

Martha Mok: not being able to eat, having to eat like a rabbit, starving myself to death. Like I'm not the, I'm the worst person with hangry. Okay. You do not want to talk to me when I'm hangry. And that was one of my big fear because I do work on people business. I do need to meet a lot of people. So being hungry was one of my biggest fear.

Dr Orlena: That's really interesting. And I, you're so not alone in that and having gone through that journey, what do you think now? What would you say to people now?

Martha Mok: I think it's about the choice of food that we choose to eat. Like not all healthy food sucks. Okay. Let's. Be honest. There's some of them do, but not all healthy food sucks. You

Dr Orlena: Okay. So in your opinion, which healthy foods suck? Which healthy foods suck?

Martha Mok: Okay. I, I'm weed. Okay. I don't eat cucumber. I don't eat tomato. I, I'm allergic to eight plants, so there's, and I don't eat orange, so a lot of the good healthy food that no more people eat tomato and things like that, I can't have it because I just

Dr Orlena: there are loads of other, there's loads of other foods, right?

Martha Mok: Yeah. There's loads of other things that I can actually try such as. peas or a lot of the vegetable that, that I can actually go forward to and starting to change my habit on it. That was actually the big thing. Like now that I'm cooking something or I ensure that there's some vegetable in there instead of just like just meat or just carbohydrate, just understand then.

Martha Mok: That can help us to make better decision when we're eating.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. Perfect. Now going back to that crossroads, and this is where I really love to paint a picture of what is possible for you. So now you get to wave a magic wand and I know you've started to make some healthy habits, but in this. Magic Bond, you've made all the healthy habits such that you're living what I call healthy, amazing you.

Dr Orlena: And what I mean by that is you are enjoying your life. You eat in a way that you enjoy, you move, you've got, you go to sleep, you've got the mindset and you love your life. And on top of that, all the things that you are doing are supporting your health and weight loss. So you've reached your ideal body weight.

Dr Orlena: You're feeling strong. You're feeling confident. What does life look like now for you? Like, what are all the things that you want to be doing? How has it impacted your life? Tell us about it.

Martha Mok: I think that the big difference was that I don't really care about what other people thinks anymore. I've, I like, I'm still not a size eight model by any standard, but I am comfortable enough to actually wear a bikini in a, in a pool. So that's the difference. And it's not about that. We all have to fit into what a society thing is the healthy way for us.

Martha Mok: Be the ones that you feel comfortable in. And that's what the image that I want people to know is not about our, our shape is not about our age. It's about how comfortable are we in the skin that we're in.

Dr Orlena: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I see so many people who have lost weight. People always say to me, you know I don't want to look at myself in the mirror, or I don't want to have my photograph taken, or I definitely don't want to wear a bikini. And that's because I've got a lot of weight. And I feel uncomfortable, but then they lose the weight and they still feel uncomfortable and it's like, wait, is it the weight or is it actually something more, is it that self confidence that you have in yourself and that ability to just go, I actually don't care what other people are thinking.

Dr Orlena: And here's the secret. Most people, they're not, they don't take it. They don't notice you in any way whatsoever. I always think if you think of an analogy of you're on a busy road and you see zillions of cars going backwards and forwards, which cars do you notice? The amazing ones like, well, the Tesla's are getting more common now, but you know, some amazing Porsche or something like that.

Dr Orlena: And you're like, wow, that's an amazing car. You don't see those very often, or one that is like totally falling to pieces. And you're like, wow, how is that car still going? But all the other cars, you just don't notice. And the reality is we're all just the other cars and people don't notice other people.

Dr Orlena: They're so busy in their own, wrapped up in their own thoughts. That they're not even thinking about you. It's only in your brain that they're thinking about you.

Martha Mok: I think that a lot of the times that as a woman, we are so. Wire to the worry that other people's judgment. And when we keep living for other people, that's when trouble starts. We do everything for other people. We do everything because of the fear of being judged. So that's when I decided to say, you know, what is my life is my body.

Martha Mok: It's my choice. I'm happy to lose more weight, be more healthy, but that's because I want it. I don't really care about what other people think onto it. So you're beginning to not have that pressure because if not, you see it in our group as well. A lot of women worry about their partner looking at other women on technology.

Martha Mok: Talk. And I'm like, how are you going to compete with the outside world when there will be always someone younger than you, fitter than you, and maybe like, you know having a better feature than you, how can you compare? And if you don't see yourself as the best diamond in the sky, other people won't see that.

Dr Orlena: Absolutely. Absolutely. Just wrapping up, Martha, what message do you have for people who are in a similar situation to you? Perhaps they've tried something, they've tried another thing they try. And it feels like, it feels like they're broken. It feels like they can't make changes and they really want to get to.

Dr Orlena: Be healthier, healthier, be fitter. What would you say to those people?

Martha Mok: Don't give up. Don't give up. Ask yourself, what haven't you tried? Because I can guarantee you with technology coming up this day, there will be new things all the time. So just go and keep trying. I'm sure they will be someone, something that will make you feel more comfortable to put in that extra effort.

Martha Mok: Into being the best version of you and remember it's not about for anyone else. You're only doing this for yourself, for your life and this person in front of you.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. And where can people find you on the internet?

Martha Mok: , you'll be able to find me over social media under the branding super confidence coaching. And if you search super confidence coach, I am the first one that comes up on social media.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. Fabulous. Thank you so much.

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Martha Mok: Thank you so much for having me today.