“Uncertainty is the most generous source of opportunity.”⠀I saw this the other day, posted by my friend & former mentor, Mary Shenouda (aka The Paleo Chef) and it made my whole day.
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While I can really relate to this on many personal levels, I think it applies really broadly to overall health goals as well.
I am currently going through the process to freeze my eggs. I can feel burdened and stressed by the uncertainty of the process and the future, or I can remember that uncertainty is the most generous form of opportunity. Freezing my eggs presents me with opportunities.
I am currently building a tiny house. There is a lot of uncertainty about where I’ll live and if I’ll like it. I can be stressed by that or I can remember that uncertainty is the most generous form of opporunity. Having a tiny house means so many options & opportunities!
Too many people fear the future. They aren’t sure if they will reach their goals. They aren’t sure if they will maintain their results. They don’t know if the approach they are trying will give them the results they want.
Yes, the future is full of uncertainty. But don’t be plagued by uncertainty. Don’t be burdened by it. Don’t become a victim of all your opportunities.
Uncertainty is the most generous source of opportunity because YOU get to create the future you want. ⠀
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If it’s not working, change something. ⠀
If you don’t like it, change it.⠀
If you aren’t happy, change. ⠀
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Uncertainty is the most generous source of opportunity. It’s time we start acting like it.
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I loved today’s workout. This workout format is my absolute favorite (and yes, I know I say that every week).
“Captain Crunch”
AMRAP 4:
3 rounds:
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Front Squats
Max Calorie Row in Time Remaining rest 4:00
AMRAP 4:
2 rounds:
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Front Squats
Max Calorie Row in Time Remaining rest 4:00
AMRAP 4:
1 round:
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Front Squats
Max Calorie Row in Time Remaining
I found myself breaking up the barbell more that I thought I would, but that’s okay by me. I showed up, I worked hard and I feel proud. There’s no need to get much more complicated than that!
On the food front:
Let’s talk about how hungry I was this morning! Holy smokes! I’m rarely hungry in the morning but I think the hormones for the egg freezing process are revving up my hunger. Who knows, it could also be fatigue but either way, I was hungry this morning so I made up some bulletproof coffee before my workout.
Around 10:30am I had a breakfast salad bowl with a little bit of raw cabbage (half as much as I normally have), bacon, eggs, Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo and a few walnuts. No avocado today.
A few hours later while working on the Fat Loss Fast Track launch I had some dark chocolate & macadamia nuts and then an early dinner of a salad bowl from Chipotle Mexican Grill: lettuce, chicken, salsa, guacamole and sour cream.
We are all coaches. The person we coach most often and most influentially is ourself. Unfortunately, many of us keep calling plays that don’t work.
In today’s episode I’m sharing a coaching call I had with a Fat Loss Fast Track client that’s really about about mindset. We talk about lies we tell ourselves, how the little things actually do matter and how you can identify the strategies you keep returning to that simply aren’t working.
We also talk about the trap of “improvement” and how we can use “improvement” at the expense of “progress”.
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
In today’s episode I talked about Jackson’s Honest Sweet Potato Chips.
I’m not much of a cook. I keep my meals super simple, fast & easy. I don’t play around too much with spices because I’m cheap. True story. I don’t want to pay $8 for a spice I’m going to use 10 times a year.
But really, it’s about keeping it easy. Complex meals and time-consuming recipes just don’t flow with my personality and lifestyle.
For fat loss friendly eating to be sustainable for me, it’s gotta be easy. (I’ve done a few episodes on my fave fat loss foods as well as budget friendly options that you can check out here, here and here.)
It also has to be delicious. I won’t feel psychologically satisfied by a can of tuna.
My standards are simple: I eat foods I love that love me back. If I’m making it myself, it has to be simple, quick & easy.
This recipe tests the bounds of simple & fast because it requires a little bit of prep work (about 10 minutes) and bakes for 30 minutes.
On the flip side, it’s crazy delicious, can be made with zero dishes (major time saver on clean up) and only has 4 ingredients.
When I was 350+ lbs, I used to love eating sugar & starch while watching football. Pizza, Mexican food, cookies, you name it.
I still love watching football, I definitely enjoy a good meal while watching a game, but I don’t want to feel terrible afterwards.
So, while settling in for an evening of football yesterday, I decided I’d take the 10 minutes to prep something different that felt special.
I put the entire process on my Instagram story so make sure you’re following me here & here so you don’t miss anything that doesn’t make it to the blog.
I choose chicken thighs because they taste better, are cheaper, are a great blend of fat & protein and they’re much more forgiving when cooking. Chicken breasts dry out very easily; thighs don’t.
The kitchen gadget I mentioned is a mallet. I used it to flatten out the chicken.
Here’s what you’re going to need:
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Baby spinach
Goat cheese
Prosciutto
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F).
On a piece of wax or parchment paper, use the mallet to flatten out the chicken.
Layer a few spinach leaves, prosciutto & goat cheese on each piece of chicken. I pressed the cheese down with my fingers to make it more of a spread for easier rolling.
Using your hands, roll up each piece of chicken and place seam-side down on either a baking dish or a piece of aluminum foil. I used aluminum foil because a) I hate dishes but more importantly b) I don’t have a baking dish of any kind. I told you I don’t cook much.
I didn’t tie them or use toothpicks, they stayed together just fine being placed seam-side down. I think it helps that I didn’t overfill them.
Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Bake time will vary based on how much stuffing you add and on the size of your thighs…the chicken thighs.
They were SO good! I’m having the leftovers tonight!
Please don’t ask me what the serving size is. Any serving size depends on you. It depends on what else you’re eating at that meal, what else you’ve eaten that day, your size, your goals, your activity level, etc.
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I didn’t want to go to the gym this morning. It’s Fat Loss Fast Track launch week and my hands are totally full with work stuff but I know that’s when the workouts matter most. Here’s what it looked like for me:
AMRAP 15
55 power cleans
55 ring rows
55 cal bike
55 burpees
I really don’t like ring rows but they were the best option today with my shoulder still being super irritated. I felt 10x better after the workout than I did before, so that’s a win!
On the food front:
After my workout I had my cabbage salad with 1/2 as much cabbage as normal, 4 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, a handful of walnuts and some Primal Kitchen Chipotle lime mayo.
A few hours later I was stoked to find that I got my shipment from Bulletproof coffee! They recently started selling ready-to-drink bottles of bulletproof coffee so I was psyched to try it! They have 4 flavors and I tried the original as the others have added sugar or artificial sweeteners. I think I liked it, but not as much as I like Picnik butter coffee.
I snacked on some macadamia nuts with the bp coffee and felt super satisfied.
For dinner I’m having the leftover chicken thighs from last night and a small spinach salad.
Really feeling great about my choices today!
Make it a great day! You always have the power to make the rest of your day the best of your day!
What’s the difference between primal and keto? How do I know if I’m in ketosis? Do I have to be in ketosis to burn fat?
We’re tackling these questions and a whole lot more in today’s episode.
In episode 387 I laid the foundation for our week of discussion around ketogenic diets. I defined ketosis, ketones and talked a little bit about “clean keto” versus all those keto plans touting ketogenic treats & desserts.
Today we’re doing a bit of a debrief on those episodes to answer some questions and dive deeper into some of the powerful points we rushed through in episode 388.
If you’ve got questions about fat burning, ketosis or anything we talked about in episodes 387 or 388, don’t miss this episode!
Reminder: next week I’m hosting a free mindset & motivation masterclass. The more we talk about nutrition & consistency, the more I feel the need to tackle mindset and the ability to create motivation because we can know a lot about nutrition strategy but not have the mental muscle to consistently implement it.
The mindset side of change cannot be overlooked. If you struggle with the consistency we talk about in today’s episode, make sure you sign up for the free mindset masterclass next week!
Ketosis is a state of metabolic efficiency where you are able to burn stored energy in the form of body fat and ketones & not be dependent on regular high carbohydrate meals to sustain your energy, mood and cognitive focus.
Ketones are an energy source just like carbs, fat & protein are energy sources. Ketones can be used by your brain, your heart, and your muscles. Ketones are produced by the liver as a byproduct of fat metabolism.
Ketones produced under certain conditions:
blood sugar is low
insulin is low
muscle & liver glycogen stores are low
To understand more about this, listen to the following episodes of the Primal Potential podcast:
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
Here are some of my favorite Primal Kitchen Products:
Popping in for a quick daily update! I promise to be back to my full posts on Monday but I didn’t want to leave you hanging with nothing today.
I’m in the White Mountains working & attending the Highland Games. All day long I was surrounded by food & alcohol. Everyone around me was indulging in “special” treats.
I’ll tell you what – “special treats” don’t make me feel that special anymore. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE a good piece of red velvet cake or cup of ice cream, but that’s about it. A random cookie or whoopie pie or batch of french fries just doesn’t make me feel very good. Yeah, it tastes good for a minute but then I feel tired, heavy, bloated and thirsty. That’s definitely not very special!
I knew fat loss friendly choices would be challenging today. Before we left this morning I thought about what would make me feel my best. Without a doubt, avoiding sugar, starch & alcohol makes me feel my best. It’s not even a question.
I want to feel my best. I want to feel my best more than I want 2 minutes of enjoyment from a treat or a drink.
I woke up at 4:30am and drank coffee while I worked until about 10:30am. On the way to the Games I had 2 handfuls of macadamia nuts.
We went to a food tent at the games for lunch. Everyone I was with ate scotch eggs, fried fish, french fries or meat pies. Fortunately, they had hamburgers. I got a hamburger, threw out the bun and felt satisfied. I had a packet of coconut butter with me but didn’t end up eating it. The burger wasn’t the most delicious thing ever but especially when I’m away from home, I want to feel my very best.
While everyone drank beer, I drank water. I didn’t feel like I was missing out because I knew I was making the choice that would make me feel my very best. That’s not missing out. I don’t want to miss out on feeling great!
We went out to dinner and after making great choices & avoiding temptation all day, I wanted to stay the course. I also wanted to really enjoy my meal. So, I did.
I had a delicious prime rib & side salad. After a few ounces of the meat, I shared it with the table. I definitely didn’t need the entire huge steak.
Though I wasn’t precisely aware of my carb & protein grams today, I was for sure under the 50 grams of carbs and 110 grams of protein I’m shooting for with this reset I’m trying.
I didn’t get in a workout today other than walking & hiking, and I’m great with that. I’m planning a full workout first thing tomorrow morning.
That’s all I’ve got for you today! Identify what choices will make you feel your best and choose them with conviction!
