I’ve shared with you that one of my mantras is “travel light” and it has been a game changer for me. This weekend, however, I realized that I’ve really dropped the ball on living that mantra, especially as it relates to my interactions with other people.
First, let me revisit (more for me than for you) what “travel light” means to me.
I don’t get flustered over the small stuff
I’m grateful
I find the good in everything
I choose to focus on opportunities to move forward
I am more powerful than my setbacks & circumstances
I know that joy is a choice & I choose it daily
Essentially, “travel light” reminds me to refuse to be burdened by anything. Let it go. Set it down. Travel light.
I really believe that often times, extra physical weight we carry is a physical manifestation of extra emotional weight we’re carrying.
More than that, most of the emotional baggage we carry with us is optional. We can & should set it down. We only carry it with us because we don’t realize that we can & should let it go.
I have so many thoughts I want to share with you today. Buckle up, this might be a long one.
If you’d rather listen to this blog, click here. Please note that this blog will air as episode 362 of the Primal Potential podcast on 7/18/17. I won’t continue to air blogs as podcasts but I wanted to make sure everyone had access to this one as I transition to making the audio available separately here on the blog.
I’ve shared with you that one of my mantras is “travel light” and it has been a game changer for me. This weekend, however, I realized that I’ve really dropped the ball on living that mantra, especially as it relates to my interactions with other people.
First, let me revisit (more for me than for you) what “travel light” means to me.
I don’t get flustered over the small stuff
I’m grateful
I find the good in everything
I choose to focus on opportunities to move forward
I am more powerful than my setbacks & circumstances
I know that joy is a choice & I choose it daily
Essentially, “travel light” reminds me to refuse to be burdened by anything. Let it go. Set it down. Travel light.
I really believe that often times, extra physical weight we carry is a physical manifestation of extra emotional weight we’re carrying.
More than that, most of the emotional baggage we carry with us is optional. We can & should set it down. We only carry it with us because we don’t realize that we can & should let it go.
I will give myself credit where it is due. I’ve been doing better with my application of “travel light”. I’ve been great at applying this to myself and for myself. Just in the last two weeks I’ve found joy in more ways than I probably did in the entire year of 2016.
I went to one of the best concerts I’ve seen in my whole life
I went fishing
I went kayaking & clam digging
I went hiking
I found a new ice cream place and drove an hour to try it out
I got a massage, manicure & pedicure
I’ve slept in twice
I’ve redirected my attention away from something that upsets me to all that is wonderful in my life & all that is possible for my future
But then I got an incredible email from a woman in my summer Fat Loss Fast Track. One of my groups had a particular challenge for the week which led her to send me this email. I’ll share part of it with you. She said:
I shall practice being a woman who has a baseline reaction of calm and positivity.
First, I will practice creating a pause
Next, I will practice replacing reactions that are negative or dramatic with
no reaction
a solution for the issue/problem/annoyance
an expression of gratitude for what is NOT happening
That’s so good, right? That email showed me I’ve been less dramatic and reactive with my own circumstances, but not necessarily with others. A couple people in particular.
I’ve reacted to them (not outwardly, but in my thoughts and with my focus) in a negative way.
That, for me, is the opposite of traveling light. Because I’ve chosen to make assumptions about their motives and fixate on my negative interpretation of what they have said & done, I’m weighing myself down and not being the joyful, lighthearted woman I want to be.
The email from my client yesterday was a fantastic reminder. I will practice replacing reactions that are negative or dramatic with
no reaction
a solution
an expression of gratitude
It will take practice for sure but it’s a worthwhile practice because it helps me to travel light.
Another client emailed me recently commenting on episode 355 and the advice I gave a client to “take yourself somewhere else”.
I need to take my own advice in situations where I have a negative or dramatic reaction to something someone says or does, doesn’t say or doesn’t do.
Taking myself somewhere else means focusing on what is right instead of what is wrong.
Taking myself somewhere else means assuming they have good intentions instead of assuming they have bad intentions.
Taking myself somewhere else means choosing joy instead of choosing a negative reaction.
No matter what is going on in my life, joy is a choice and I want to choose it.
When I do this, my entire life improves. I’m more productive in my work & my work quality improves. I’m more motivated to workout. I’m more enthusiastic about eating well. I experience fewer cravings. I have more energy. I sleep better. Everything is better.
On the food front:
I am making a change this week. I’m significantly increasing the amount of vegetables I’m eating and decreasing protein (by just a serving or so). Fat will likely stay the same but I’m emphasizing fruit/vegetable sources of fat like macadamia, avocado & coconut and moderately decreasing animal fat sources (bacon, eggs, salmon, butter).
I’m making this change because…I’m having my eggs frozen. Like, the eggs in my ovaries (not the eggs in my fridge).
I’m sure I’ll share more about this process but I want to focus on strategies that I know balance out estrogen & progesterone and veggies are a big part of that for me.
I’m hoping for all this egg-freezing to be wrapped up within 8-10 weeks but it could last far longer depending on how many eggs are mature and viable with the first procedure.
This does NOT mean that I’m setting aside my fat loss goals. I think the two go hand-in-hand. With that said, you’ll see a large amount of veggies for at least the next several weeks.
Mondays are always lighter food days before me (and today is a Monday) because I eat a little bit more on most weekends) so I didn’t eat until about 2pm today when I had a huge plate of sauteed cabbage with half an avocado and a small piece of grilled chicken.
Then at 6pm I had a veggie stir-fry with broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, chicken, curry & coconut milk.
Oh! And working out! I didn’t get to the gym today but I did workout at home. I did 2-10 minute EMOMs with a 5 minute break in between.
EMOM 1
12 cal airdyne bike
EMOM 2
10 burpees
Here’s to traveling light! Make today a great day!
You can make progress towards your goals AND indulge. You can enjoy summer or holiday treats without guilt. You can enjoy food AND results.
It’s time to let go of the idea of perfection and stop creating drama and guilt over enjoying food.
With that said, summer time & holiday seasons can be a challenging time to embrace improvements and avoid going overboard.
In today’s episode we’re talking about 5 strategies to create summer success without perfection. These strategies are about YOU and can easily be applied to holidays or any time you feel like you’re in a funk and you want to make more progress.
The thing we make the most of is decisions. Choices. If we aren’t good at it, we’re in trouble.
If we look closely at any area of our lives where we’re struggling, chances are our decision making needs some serious work.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, click here.
I recently shared with you that I’m going through Seth Godin’s AltMBA this summer and our current project is focused on the way we make decisions.
Most us react based on instinct or habit instead of responding & deciding based on logic and desired outcomes.
(Typically, we are better and more balanced in decision making in certain areas of life than we are in others. Today I’m talking about those areas where we struggle to make good decisions consistently.)
We focus on what we want most in the moment & on how we’re feeling instead of on what produces the most desirable outcome.
Seth Godin simplifies it this way: Understand the distinction between:
how does this decision make me feel right now? and
how does this decision increase the chances that I will achieve my long-term goals?
The other part of this, from my perspective, is the options you consider.
Our choices are not binary but we often approach them as if they are. We consider only the options that are most obvious or familiar to us.
For example: I’m hungry.
The reaction is often “Should I eat this or that” or “Should I eat or not eat?”
There are so many other considerations. Overlooking them dramatically increases the chances that you won’t make a good choice.
Through practice, train yourself to see the whole picture instead of defaulting to your most practiced options.
Am I really hungry?
How hungry am I?
Can I wait?
Do I need fuel?
Is there something else going on that’s triggering me to turn to food for comfort or distraction?
Are there options other than eating?
Am I thirsty?
What would be my best choice?
Another example: You planned to workout but you don’t feel like it. Your most practiced responses are probably binary. Either you workout or you don’t. You aren’t thinking much about it, you’re just choosing between those two familiar reactions.
Instead, consider all the options:
Can I do it later instead of now?
Is a different kind of workout more appealing than the workout you had planned?
How about a shorter workout?
An at home workout?
What am I willing to do?
What would be fun?
If I do the workout I planned, how will I feel afterwards?
Is it worth it?
What holds more value to me, working out or not working out?
Expand your mental pathways. Think beyond your normal options.
Train your brain to make better decisions.
One of my good decisions today was my workout. I didn’t feel like going to the gym. I even considered the binary options of “go to the gym or stay home & work”. Instead, I chose both. Go to the gym so that I’m fresher and more focused for work when I get home.
This workout is an ascending ladder which means that you keep increasing the reps by 3 until time expires. After 9 you go to sets of 12, 15, 18, etc.
“Raise the Bar”
AMRAP 8
3 Thrusters (95/65)
3 Toes to Bar
6 Thrusters (95/65)
6 Toes to Bar
9 Thrusters (95/65)
9 Toes to Bar
Ah, thrusters. We have a love/hate relationship. Once into the set of 15 the thrusters got very spicy. And, having ripped my hand earlier in the week, hanging from the bar was NOT fun. But you know what? I felt really great afterwards!
On the food front:
I woke up feeling super hungry. I did think about eating before my workout (which I don’t normally do) but I decided to have my first cup of coffee & then revisit the decision.
After my first cup of coffee I wasn’t hungry anymore. Would you look at that?
I was, however, definitely hungry when I got home from the gym. I had a cobb salad and a bag of beet chips.
I’m heading out of town to a concert tonight so I wanted to eat before I left. I don’t know what food will be available at the show. Non starchy veggies for the win! They help me feel super full: brussels sprouts & grilled chicken and carrying along another bag of beet chips.
At maximum I’ll have one drink tonight but as of right now, I don’t feel like drinking. I’ll keep the food choices fat loss friendly & I’ll be sure to walk as much as possible!
If you settle for less than your best, you get less than your best. You live less than your best. You have less than your best.
If you settle for a choice that isn’t aligned with your goals, you don’t make progress towards your goals.
I’ve talked a lot recently about creating a framework for decision making. This is another example of that.
As you consider two different choices, consider the outcome of the choice and ask yourself if it’s what you want to settle for.
For example, if overindulging (again) keeps you from making progress, it’s that what you want to settle for? Not making progress?
If skipping a workout keeps you in a pattern of laziness and not doing the work, is that what you want to settle for? Being lazy & not doing the work?
Now don’t get it twisted. I am NOT saying that skipping a workout makes you lazy. I’m asking you to look at patterns of behavior that reflect ways in which you settle. Is it what you want to settle for?
As for me: I’m done settling.
I’m done settling for a body that doesn’t reflect my best health.
I’m done settling for relationships that aren’t what I deserve.
I’m just done settling.
I don’t want an average, comfortable life. I want the best life I am capable of creating.
And that creation? It happens choice by choice.
Is that a mandate for perfection? Noooooo. You can choose to see it that way, but I don’t recommend it. It’s simply not settling. Ever.
Every time you settle, you get what you settle for.
Today’s workout was a series of 40 second sprints with 20 seconds of rest.
Trainwreck
It was 16 total minutes of work broken down like this:
4 x 40 seconds on 20 seconds off on airdyne bike
4 x 40 seconds on 20 seconds off wreck bag to shoulder
4 x 40 seconds on 20 seconds off on airdyne bike
4 x 40 seconds on 20 seconds off wreck bag to shoulder.
I was feeling pretty sore from all the push-ups yesterday so this one felt harder than I thought it would.
On the food front:
Before my am workout I had a couple bites of cheese that were left over from last night’s birthday dinner.
Shortly after the workout I had a cobb salad and lunch was grilled chicken with brussels sprouts.
Dinner has to be early again due to conference calls in the pm and I’ll be having chicken & broccoli with cauliflower rice from Paleo Power Meals.
If you want to give Paleo Power Meals a try and they deliver in your area, use the coupon code ebprimal20 to save 20% on your first order.
