Let The Dead Things Go

Most of us aren’t very happy. At best, we worry too much and revisit past pains too regularly. We make life harder because we’re carrying with us things that we can absolutely let go of.

Learning to let go will not only make you happier, it will free up tons of energy you can use to go after goals & changes that really matter to you.

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We know that the negativity, worry, assumptions and fixation on problems don’t make us happy, but we don’t know how to stop focusing on them.

I love this quote I shared earlier on Facebook.

What kinds of things are you carrying that you can set down?

Something someone did or said in the past that hurt you?

Past mistakes or missed opportunities that you’re still beating yourself up over?

Future worries that you can’t influence today?

Other people’s problems?

When you are feeling down, emotional, frustrated, worried, disappointed or anxious, ask yourself if you need to be carrying what is weighing you down.

Chances are, you’ve got a great opportunity right in front of you to set it down & travel light.

There was no workout today – I got in a long, hard one Saturday morning & took Sunday & Monday off. I had planned to get to the gym today but I got a late start and my day had other plans for me. 🙂

On the food front:

I left the Cape around 11am this morning & didn’t eat until I got home. I whipped up a couple eggs with 2 slices of bacon and that held me over until my early dinner around 5:30pm.

I had spaghetti squash with grilled chicken & cheese. Super simple, super tasty!

Give some serious thought to the thoughts, assumptions and patterns you need to let go of. Choose something new!

404: Simple Decision Making Criteria

404: Simple Decision Making Criteria

I believe with all my heart that if you master what we’re talking about in today’s episode, you can crush any goal you set for yourself.

Today’s episode is about getting rid of all the drama & all the stories you use to talk  yourself into choices that prevent you from reaching your goals.

Today’s episode is about distinguishing between what is really happening & the story you tell yourself about what is happening.

Today we are looking at a couple basic yet powerful ideas:

What is really happening without your story?

Implementing simple decision making criteria.

Oftentimes, we distract and exhaust ourselves with complicated stories about our past or our fears of the future and we get far away from what is really happening and the simple choice that needs to be made.

Today we are cutting through all the drama and getting to the basics of the decision at hand & how you can master challenging moments.

If you listen to any episode, listen to this one!

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Resources

In today’s episode I mentioned that I created a list of my favorite products from Thrive Market. You can download it here.

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.

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Can You Handle It?

My former mentor inspired me again. I was fortunate to work with Mary Shenouda, The Paleo Chef, back in 2014 and even though it’s been a while since we last talked, she continues to inspire me.

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She recently posted on Instagram, “Can you handle the solitude during the transition from meh to hell yeah?

It’s such a great question and I think it can be boiled down to:

Can you handle the transition?

Can you handle the hard part of your journey?

Can you hang long enough to do the work required to earn the reward?

For most of my life, I didn’t. I’m sure I could have, but I didn’t.

When I faced temptation, I gave in.

When the work got hard, I gave in.

When I was tired or emotional, I gave up.

The only thing worse than my attitude was my work ethic. My consistency. My commitment to myself & my goals. It just wasn’t there.

Success isn’t easy.

But the thing that we forget is even more important: failure isn’t easy, either.

The difference is, there’s no payoff in quitting.

Yes, creating success is hard. Sometimes it’s lonely. But it’s a road to somewhere worth being.

The same can’t be said for quitting.

Stop taking easy street. Stop giving up and giving in.

If it matters to you, put in the work and stop complaining about it.

I had to take my own medicine today.

I’m over 38 hours into my fast (I wrote about that yesterday) and I did not want to workout. I didn’t want to work, either. But I need to and it makes me feel better.

I’m not always going to go but I can’t let what I want now (to be lazy) get in the way of what I want most (to be fit, healthy, capable & energetic).

So, off to the gym I went for what was a very challenging workout. It didn’t look too bad on paper but after that 2nd round of deadlifts…ouch.

“Dead Ahead” 
4 Rounds:
21 Deadlifts
15 Box Jump Overs
9 Push Jerks

My legs were already a bit sore today & they will ABSOLUTELY be sore tomorrow!

Nothing to share about food today since I’m fasting!

Make it a great weekend!

I’m Fasting!

Last spring I did a 5-day fast with my good friend ELA from On Air with Ella. I did it out of curiosity as I had never done an extended fast.

It was definitely hard but I learned a lot & built up a ton of confidence in myself.

I shared my experience episode 310 of the podcast. That’s probably a good episode to check out if you have questions about fasting.

It’s been nearly 100 podcast episodes since then and I’m fasting again, starting yesterday. It won’t be a 5 day fast, but I’m planning for at least 3.

Why?

I feel a strong need to detox.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since my procedure to remove & freeze my eggs. There was about a month of various (intense) hormone treatments before that and the post-procedure recovery was a lot more challenging than I expected.

I had serious digestive challenges after general anesthesia that left me feeling super sick for over a week.

My breasts are still huge (my bras don’t fit) and sore.

I can physically feel that my uterus & ovaries are enlarged.

As I said: I need to detox.

It’s totally cool if fasting isn’t for you – it’s definitely an extreme approach and for most of my life it wasn’t for me, either.

Eating clean consistently needed to be my focus before I would even consider dipping my toe into the world of fasting.

However, since I eat clean very consistently and understand the signals of my body, I feel comfortable with short fasts every once in a while.

I’m not doing it for weight loss and I have no expectations of outcomes, which is part of how I decide if it’s a good idea for me to fast.

(If I was doing this because I wanted to drop 5 lbs fast, that would be a huge red flag to not do it and I wouldn’t.)

A very common question about fasting is “what can you eat?” There are a million ways to fast and all that matters is how you choose to do it. How I’m choosing to do it isn’t “right” or “wrong”, it’s just what I’m choosing to do.

I will drink black coffee & water. Don’t worry, I understand that coffee has toxins. I’m drinking it.

I’ll add some salt to my water after workouts because yes, I am continuing to workout.

I’ll avoid calories in all forms (MCT oil, bone broth, kombucha, etc).

My fast began late yesterday afternoon & so far I feel good (but it’s early).

I’m hungry, but it’s not significant. I’ve had moments where I really, really wanted to eat but I know I’m stronger than any urges or impulses.

My focus is good – that was my biggest struggle with my fast last spring. I felt like it was really hard to focus on work. I haven’t experienced that, yet.

I felt great through my workout, too. That doesn’t suprise me, though, since I wasn’t even 24 hours into the fast when I went to the gym.

It was a pretty tough workout!

“Ball Hogs”
AMRAP 20:
Teams of 2:
3 Wall Balls (20/14)
3 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
3 Calorie Row

Next round is 6’s, then 9’s, etc…

Partners complete full rounds

I felt a little hungry after the workout so I stopped & got a coffee and felt pretty good after that.

As with every food choice I make, I’m really paying attention to how I feel. If I start to feel awful, I’ll eat. It’s that simple. And I’ll definitely end the fast on Sunday at the latest because I’ll be down on the Cape for the Patriots game!

After you listen to episode 310, let me know if you have questions!

404: Simple Decision Making Criteria

403: When Hunger & Satiety Signals Break

Today we are talking about how we mess up our body’s natural ability to regulate hunger & satiety, or feelings of fullness.

Our body is actually designed to keep us from gaining too much weight through a series of hormonal signals.

However, we have the ability to impair those hormonal signals by overeating or eating too much sugar, starch & processed foods.

Fortunately for all of us, we can fix our hunger & satiety mechanisms and when we do, fat loss gets so much easier.

Hunger diminishes, satiety returns and cravings fade away.

If you have ever felt like you feel hungry shortly after eating or it takes a lot to feel full, this episode should be really helpful to you!

Don’t miss it!

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Resources

Free E-Book – Hormones & Fat Loss

058: Understanding Fat Loss & The Insulin Effect

179: 3 Fat Loss Hormones

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