It doesn’t feel good to wake up with frustration or regret. I don’t know if it’s ever happened to you, but I have a lot of experience with it.
I’d overeat and wake up the next day wishing I hadn’t. Or, I’d put off an important project and wake up facing more pressure than I would have if I just got it done.
In fact, waking up with that regret & frustration would usually make me less likely to make good choices.
I’d use the regret or frustration to justify more choices that would trigger more regret or frustration.
Insanity, right?
A big part of this pattern was that I was focused on all that was wrong and on all I hadn’t done instead of focusing on what I could do now & next.
If you aren’t focused on what you can do now or next, why would you think you’ll choose it? You probably won’t!
I was thinking about this today when I saw the below post from CompeteEveryday.
I think this is a powerful mantra: I keep coming back.
No matter what happened last, I keep coming back.
Every time you find your attention fixed on what went wrong or why you’re frustrated & disappointed, redirect your attention to: no matter what happened last, I keep coming back.
Think about it – life is SO short and you absolutely have the power to make it incredible, but to do that, you can’t keep quitting. You have to keep coming back.
I’ll tell ya – today’s workout was a tough one! I loved it, but it kicked my butt!
Alllll the post workout food: steak frites and a couple handfuls of cashews! So delish. I wanted to keep eating because it was satisfying but I wasn’t hungry, so I stopped.
For lunch I had a cobb salad with extra grilled chicken & dinner was that chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice that I’m finally digging again.
Don’t forget! In yesterday’s daily recap I proposed an AMA (ask me anything) blog or podcast segment – all questions are fair game and you can post them in the comments, on social, or wherever! I love getting to know you guys better so I thought it would be fun for you to get to know me, too!
You know what I was thinking this weekend? Well, of course you don’t, but I’ll tell you! I was thinking it would be fun to do an AMA or “ask me anything” podcast or blog!
What do you think? Here’s your chance! If you have questions on any topic, leave them in the comments below and within the next couple weeks I’ll do a blog or podcast to answer them!
I was straight up excited to go the gym this morning – it doesn’t usually happen that way! It was a pure barbell workout and it was a short one – two wins!
“Isabel”
For Time:
30 Snatches
Barbell power snatch is a newer-to-me lift – I didn’t do barbell power snatch in North Carolina when I was training with Nathan. Because of that, it’s not one of my stronger lifts like back squat, front squat, deadlift or power clean. Not being as comfortable or skilled at it, I wasn’t quite sure what weight to go with.
My coach suggested going with a weight at which you could do 5-7 unbroken reps when fresh.
I picked my weight, crushed the workout in 2 minutes and 10 seconds and felt great about my form.
But…
I felt like I could have gone heavier. After cooling down, I asked my coach how he felt about me doing the workout again, right then, but going heavier.
He didn’t think it was a great idea but encouraged me to go heavier than I was thinking I’d re-do it at and instead do 15 reps NOT for time. So, 15 heavier reps in a slow, controlled way.
I did it and left feeling proud.
Here’s my takeaway: if you think you can do more, do more now. There’s no need to wait until “next time” – do more NOW.
I had a couple cups of coffee before my workout and my favorite Paleo Power Meals cobb salad afterwards. Mondays are PPM delivery days, which is pretty much the best thing ever!
After that I had chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice – I had worn myself out on that one but after a few months away, I’m glad it’s back! So filling & tasty!
Dinner was grilled chicken strips and sweet potato fries. Gosh, I hope I never forget how much better I feel when I’m eating well compared with how I feel when I’m not eating well!
As I was laying awake at 1:30 this morning, I had convinced myself not to workout today. It’s Fat Loss Fast Track launch week and I’m tired. Wednesday night I didn’t sleep at all due to a fire alarm malfunction & subsequent odd dramas.
Thursday, after my last live webinar, I went into Boston with a friend and we walked 9 miles around the city (in flip flops – when am I gonna learn to wear sneakers?!).
By the time I got home Thursday night, the week of workouts, launch chaos and lack of sleep was kicking my ass. At 8:30, I went to bed, dead tired.
When I woke up around 1am, feeling sore and restless, I decided to skip my Friday workout. In my head, I was planning to get in great workouts on Saturday & Sunday since it’s a rare weekend without travel.
Eventually I fell back asleep and woke to my alarm at 4:30am. I remembered my middle-of-the-night decision to skip the workout and went about my normal routine.
Around 6am I started to re-think it. I wasn’t sore. I wasn’t too tired. The workout sounded like a great one. I always workout on weekday mornings. I wasn’t motivated but I made the decision to go to the gym.
While I showered before getting ready (yes, I shower before the gym), I decided to level up my motivation.
This requires a little back story. Nearly 100% of the time, I wear long black pants and a t-shirt or tank top to the gym. Nothing fancy. Very predictable.
But today, lacking motivation, I decided to dress the part of the athlete I’m becoming.
“Dress the part” is a hack I use to boost confidence & motivation. When I give a live webinar, I dress up, wear heels and stand, as though I’m presenting on stage. It increases my energy, focus & confidence immediately. I’m certain it makes a positive difference.
I applied that hack to my workout this morning. I stepped out of my comfort zone, bearing more of my body than I normally do, intentionally dressing like the competitive athlete I’m becoming.
Wouldn’t you know, I crushed my damn workout. Like, seriously crushed it. I set the tone by how I dressed & carried myself – I dressed outside of my comfort zone and I performed outside of my comfort zone.
You should try it.
I LOVED today’s workout – no doubt in part because I worked so hard & did so well.
I left the gym feeling focused, proud & motivated.
On the food front:
Another Paleo Power Meals food day! I drank a couple cups of coffee before the workout and was fairly hungry afterwards. I opted for a cobb salad around 9:30am. I have no problem eating “non breakfast food” in the morning.
At 12:30 I had grilled chicken with beet noodles & a handful of macadamia nuts to add some fat to the meal.
I drank a lot of sparkling water throughout the day and was planning on spaghetti squash & meat sauce for dinner but got surprised with dinner plans at one of my favorite restaurants! Roll with it!
I’m not sure what I’ll eat but I do know this: I’m going to enjoy a glass of wine because I love it! I know I’ve indulged sensibly when there’s no guilt! xoxo
Take progress pictures. Take them every single week on the same day, no matter what.
I get it, you don’t want to. You only want to take the pictures when you know you’ll progress. You don’t want to take the pictures when you might not see progress.
Too bad. Do it anyway. The whole POINT of taking progress pictures is to face the moments when you aren’t making progress.
Turning away won’t work. It hasn’t worked and it never will.
You don’t like that your body shows that you didn’t do the work? Yeah well, avoiding the picture doesn’t make it any less real or true. But taking the picture and facing what is happening in your body increases the chances that you’ll do something about it.
Do not turn away from what’s happening with your body. You look the way you look, whether you take the picture or not and deciding to not stare it down makes you LESS likely to succeed.
When you have the sense that you really don’t want to take the picture, guess what? That’s when you need to take it most.
Stop making excuses. Stop turning away. Take the damn pictures.
Today’s workout was much spicier than it seemed on paper. It was tabata style, which means you’re doing 20 seconds of work & 10 seconds of rest for 4 minutes (that’s a total of 8 rounds of work/rest).
“Body Check”
Tabata (8 x :20 on/:10 off)
Air Squats
Sit-ups
Push-ups
Calorie Row
This is how it works: 20 seconds of air squats, 10 seconds rest, repeat 8x.
Immediately transition into 20 seconds of sit-ups, 10 seconds rest, repeat 8x.
You get the picture. Those push-ups got TOUGH!!
After the workout I did some single leg deadlifts, GHD sit-ups, hollow-body holds & ring rows before heading to the chiropractor.
Today is the final live webinar of launch week!! Yeah! If you missed it, you can watch it here. I hope you carve out some time to do so! I think you’ll really enjoy it.
On the food front:
I had some drama in my apartment last night which led to me not sleeping. At all. Needless to say, I was hungry before my workout after tossing & turning all night long so I had a couple of grilled chicken strips around 6am.
At 11am, before my final webinar, I had a cobb salad from Paleo Power Meals and as soon as the webinar was over I headed into Boston with a friend.
I’m scheduling this blog to post before I’ll get home so I’m not sure what I’ll have for dinner but here’s what I have decided:
No starchy carbs
No alcohol
No indulgences
I’m sure we’ll be doing a lot of walking around the city and I’ll either have seafood & veggies or a salad with meat or fish. Keeping it simple – there’s always a fat loss friendly option available!
We are coming up on Primal Potential’s 3rd anniversary. It blows my mind. In hindsight, there must have been some legit divine inspiration involved in me leaving my secure corporate job to start something completely from scratch.
I like security. I loved my predictable, comfortable income. To be frank, I liked the financial comfort zone.
Though I’m super surprised that I took that gamble, I know for sure that I am doing my life’s work.
I’m not ashamed to say that I tear up when I acknowledge that – that Primal Potential is my life’s work.
Guys, my weight struggles have been HARD. They’ve consumed my life. I’ve been in some dark places and I fought so hard to find the other side.
Helping people through similar issues is what I was meant to do with my life. I will never forget one particularly hard day when I was in middle school. I was crying to my mom & aunt about how hard life was as a fat girl. As they often did, they were encouraging me and telling me I could reinvent myself at any time. Through my sad tears I told them, “I’m going to get through this and I’m going to help other people do the same.” I meant it as much then as I do now, but I’m beyond proud of myself for making it a reality. For fighting through hell and doubt to make it a reality.
I’m feeling this nostalgia because it’s Fat Loss Fast Track launch day. Today I open up registration for my 12-week summer coaching group. The Fat Loss Fast Track isn’t as much about fat loss as it is about transforming your life and stepping into your full potential.
Starting tonight, I’ll be hosting a few webinars to share more information about the fast track and I’m really hoping that you’ll see & hear the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to take your life, health & happiness to the next level.
Don’t take my word for it though, here’s what some of my current clients are saying…I want for YOU what they are creating for themselves.
“If you’re considering FLFT but are on the fence, I’d say if you’re ready to invest in yourself, then absolutely you should join FLFT. So worth it and you get so much more out of it than you can possibly imagine….if you do the work. It’s helped me live a healthier, happier life. I no longer am obsessed by or controlled by food, and that sense of freedom is priceless! Best thing I’ve ever done for myself!”
I don’t want to to leave you guys hanging without the daily stuff I include in these posts, but we won’t go into too much detail on today’s workout and food.
“Down Swinging” For Time:
50/35 Calorie Bike
800m Run
30 KB Swings (53/35)
20 Bar-Facing Burpees
Unfortunately, my knee was pretty swollen when I woke it this morning (bummer – it’s been free from pain for quite a while) so I rowed 1000m instead of running 800m. Otherwise, it was a great workout.
I added in a second short workout in the evening today. My webinar for the FLFT launch is at 8pm – a time when I’m normally brain dead and winding down. So, around 7pm I did a 15 minute EMOM on my airdyne bike with sprints for cals every minute. Feels so much better to MOVE for energy than EAT for energy!
On the food front:
It’s Fat Loss Fast Track launch day so meals are happening quickly. Post-workout I had greek yogurt with cacao powder.
Around 1pm I had grilled chicken with beet noodles & at 6pm I had a cobb salad with extra chicken.
