It’s the day after Christmas! I hope you had an amazing day!
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My pre-Christmas dinner strategy was on point for sure.
I got up early and worked for a few hours.
I worked out at home with my sister.
My first meal was around noon – a shared charcuterie board with nuts, meat & cheese.
I skipped the bread at Christmas dinner, and the booze, in favor of cookies and ice cream (dessert is more worth it to me than alcohol or starch)
But I definitely had those cookies & ice cream. And a chocolate covered pretzel. They were delish. No drama, no guilt.
I find that it’s super important to have a post-holiday strategy. Not rules, not restrictions, just a clear sense of how I’ll make myself feel amazing the day after indulging.
Surely my energy will be a bit lower than normal today and my cravings a bit higher – those are pretty predictable responses to the sugar I had last night.
My strategy always includes a few components:
movement
nutrition
hydration
mindset
sleep
I can’t get to the gym today because of a conflict between the limited holiday hours and my work schedule, but I can workout at home. Ready for this one? I am!
100 kettlebell swings
100 goblet squats (with the kettlebell)
100 push-ups
I’ll complete the entire workout as fast as possible, resting only when I have to.
As for nutrition: I have plenty of fuel in my system. Put plainly: I ate more than my body needed yesterday. That’s totally fine, I’m not mad about it, but it means my body doesn’t need as much fuel today. I have a holiday dinner tonight so I’m planning to fast until dinner. This is not a punishment for eating cookies last night, it’s just a simple response to the fact that my body doesn’t need more fuel right now. It has plenty from yesterday.
Hydration: Other than a couple cans of La Croix, I didn’t drink much water yesterday. Today, I’ll prioritize hydration. I’ve already filled up my Yeti tumbler with water and I’ll make sure to drink three of them today, at a minimum.
Mindset: I’m expecting cravings. As they come, I’ll remind myself that I had plenty of sugar yesterday and while yes, it tastes great, it doesn’t make me feel great. I want to feel amazing. Today I’m making choices based on how I want to feel. Less is more. Choose less.
Sleep: I will be in bed by 10pm tonight.
Remember: you are only a few great choices away from feeling amazing! Make one great choice at a time!
Today’s episode is a motivational minisode to help you in those moments when you feel stuck or you find yourself making a series of choices you don’t feel good about it. It could be a small moment, like mindlessly grabbing handfuls of Goldfish, or a chain of moments over a day, weekend or week.
This episode will be a great tool to help you implement a simple re-direct and stop digging deeper into a hole you don’t want to create.
The other day, I had the best drink of my entire life. Hands down. A fresh cocoa bean margarita. Amazing! If you’re following me on Instagram, you probably saw it in my stories.
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I was on a working vacation for 10 days and there were treats, sweets and alcohol absolutely everywhere.
One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to a Mayan cocoa bean farm & factory. After the tour they were selling Mayan chocolate bars & cocoa bean margaritas, pina coladas, hot chocolate and the like.
Of course I bought the cocoa bean margarita. It was E P I C. I literally watched them put fresh cocoa beans into the blender as they made it. Delicious doesn’t do it justice. It was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had.
Totally worth it.
As I savored the special drink I thought, “This is exactly why I don’t drink random, average drinks throughout the trip.” Most drinks just aren’t worth it. If they are average, they aren’t worth it.
When I indulge, I want it to be exceptional. That, to me, is worth it.
There’s nothing special about a generic margarita. Tasty, sure, but not worth it. There’s nothing special about an average piece of red velvet cake on a dessert buffett. Yeah, I love red velvet cake but I’m only going to eat it if it’s truly worth it and it’s only worth it if it’s awesome.
I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I’ve had enough average and below average indulgences to last me a lifetime. They didn’t make me happy. In fact, they made me unhappy.
When I indulge, I want it to be worth it. I want to indulge in the kinds of things that are so good you want to tell someone about it.
The reason I’m telling you about this cocoa bean margarita and what’s worth it to me is because I didn’t use to think this way. I didn’t get it. I wasn’t selective. Everything tempted me. I struggled to turn down a free grocery store cookie in the break room at work.
None of it was worth it but I wasn’t even considering that. I wasn’t in the habit of considering if it was worth it. I was just eating whatever looked good at the moment. It wasn’t a strategy that worked for me. It wasn’t a strategy that made me happy. But, it was my strategy.
The reason I wasn’t thinking that way then is because I wasn’t choosing to think of it that way. I wasn’t questioning my own operating system. I wasn’t looking for a different way to think about it versus the simple “good food, bad food”.
I hadn’t established any standards for indulging. I had ideas and hopes but not strategies I practiced regularly.
After the margarita I started to think about how I created this shift.
How I moved from just eating what tempted me and relying on willpower to really being discerning about what’s worth it and what’s not.
How did I train myself to implement standards and determine worthiness?
I started by simply asking myself, “What is really worth it?” What’s not worth it?”
I began journaling about these questions with the perspective of the day at hand, not just life in general.
For example, I’d ask myself, “Is there an indulgence today that will be totally worth it? Why is it worth it? Are there indulgences I might see today that aren’t worth it? What are they? Why aren’t they worth it?”
When I asked those kinds of questions about the daily perspective, I’d remember as I walked into the meeting room with donuts that I know they aren’t worth it. I know they aren’t worth it because they only last a few seconds, they destroy my energy and make the rest of the day harder.
I’d also rank indulgences on a scale of 1-10 as I evaluated them. I still do this regularly. Every night while on vacation I’d look at the menu and evaluate if anything was worth it. Did anything look like it was a 10? Usually not.
If it did, I’d try a bite. A bite. Then, after that bite, I’d re-evaluate. Is it a 10? If not, I move on.
I saw a delicious looking red-velvet cake and I got a slice. I took a bite. It wasn’t a 10. It wasn’t worth it. I set it down and moved along. If I’m going to indulge, I want it to be awesome, like that cocoa bean margarita. It was a 10. Totally worth it.
In episode 397 of the podcast I talk about the importance of creating standards & bright lines. Definitely check out that episode if this is something you need help practicing.
For now, try the daily strategy. Ask yourself what, if anything, will be really worth it today. Ask what you might encounter that isn’t worth it, why it isn’t worth it and how you’ll respond to it.
You become your story. Guys, I so need you to understand this. I wish someone had explained it to me years ago.
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My story was a huge part of the reason I struggled with my weight for most of my life.
I was a heavy baby. I was always the chubby toddler. The heavy kid. The fat girl. I adopted that as “who I am”.
I’m just the fat girl. I’m the heavy one. I’ve always been big.
It grew from there. I’m an emotional eater. I’m great at losing weight, terrible at keeping it off.
I was taking my past, claiming it for my present and projecting it onto my future.
For as long as I believed, “I’m just the fat girl”, my choices reflected my story. My choices aligned with my identify, it just wasn’t an identity I wanted. It was, however, the one I was claiming with my story.
Every day I point out stories to my clients and was so happy to see a related quote from Varun Soni in my Instagram feed yesterday:
We become the stories we tell ourselves.
Think about that.
I’m such an emotional eater.
I’m out of control.
I’m not motivated.
I’m such an all-or-nothing person.
I can’t lose weight.
I have no will power.
You will live right into your story.
Please understand that your past choices & patterns are not who you are. They are not all you are capable of.
Do not take your past choices and define yourself by them.
You can create a different story. You can stop limiting your present by clinging to your past.
It’s time to divorce your past. It’s time to stop defining yourself by it.
When you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them.
Use your choices today to create a different story.
When you start thinking, “I have no will power“, reframe that story by asking yourself, “What is one disciplined choice I am able and willing to make today?”
Every month I study a new book with my Primal Potential Masters Club. As an avid reader, it’s one of my favorite things. I don’t usually share the books we read together outside of our group, but there are so many awesome tactics in this one I just can’t help myself!
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This month we are reading Micro-Resilience. I read it before sharing it with the group and I just finished reading it for a second time through.
One of the things that really stood out to me as I finished up this morning was:
Complain & the whole world complains with you.
It’s so true, right?
Think about this interaction that probably seems alarmingly familiar:
“How are you?”
“So busy, you?”
“Same. Surviving!“
Of course that’s a benign scenario but still demonstrates – complain and the world complains with you.
What about when you complain about a co-worker or a boss? Ever experienced the pile on effect?
“He’s impossible. He drives me crazy!”
“Me too! You won’t believe what he did the other day…“
Here’s one of many problems with these scenarios: they totally drain your energy.
They focus your attention on what is wrong and when you’re focused on what is wrong, you see more of that & less of what is right or positive.
The great news is that the reverse is true.
When we focus on what is right, what is possible and what is positive, most people will respond in kind.
I want to emphasize this goes beyond the moral pursuit of being a positive person.
Focusing on the positive improves your mood. You make better choices when you’re in a better mood.
Focusing on what is right helps you see opportunities instead of problems. It helps you find creative solutions instead of perseverating on obstacles.
Choosing to be positive increases your energy, reduces stress hormones, lowers appetite and contributes to mood stability.
Especially in this holiday season, will you please join me in not complaining?
