When I say journaling, I’m not talking about calorie or macro counting. Here are a couple podcasts I’ve done on calorie and macro counting for those of you who have questions about that.
When I talk about journaling I’m talking about a couple basic things:
What you eat, how much & when (without measuring or counting)
How it makes you feel
I teach my clients to monitor sleep, mood, energy, hunger, satiety, etc. All of this can be done in 5-10 minutes a day and it’s an insanely powerful tool.
Ultimately, you don’t need to understand diets in general. You need to understand your own body.
Most of us have a lot of work to do in that arena.
I’ve shared here why it’s my #1 fat loss recommendation.
Today I want to briefly share with you 3 reasons you should start journaling today.
It helps you pay more attention
One of the primary reasons people fail to change their behavior & improve their food choices is because they aren’t paying attention. They go through the day being reactive versus proactive and only touch base with what they’re doing & why every once in a while. Journaling helps you pay attention. The mere act of paying attention to if you’re hungry, how hungry you are and what/how much you’re eating can improve your choices.
It keeps you honest
Sometimes we evaluate our food choices based on “the big picture” and overlook the bites off our kids plate, pieces of chocolate throughout the day or pattern of eating when we aren’t hungry. Almost without exception, when my clients review their own journal, they can identify where they are holding themselves back. Your journal prevents you from ever feeling like you don’t know why you aren’t getting results. You’ll easily be able to see what foods satisfy you and which ones don’t – this is a massive stepping stone towards success. (How many of us continue to eat protein bars even though they don’t keep hunger at bay?)
It keeps you focused
By journaling daily & making it a habit, you are repeatedly reminding yourself of what you want most and why. In the Fat Loss Fast Track journal, you answer 3 questions each day:
~ What do I want most?
~ Why do I want it?
~ What am I able & willing to do today to move in that direction?
Life is busy & demanding. Without a habit like journaling to anchor us to our goals, we naturally drift in and out of motivation, slowing our progress and failing to create consistency.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Get a blank notebook and begin to write down what you eat, how much & when. Make note of if and when you’re hungry. Make note if you have really high energy or really low energy.
It can be boiled down to this: pay attention. Pay more attention to yourself, your body, your food choices and how your body responds to them.
Today’s workout was awesome. It was a tough one but I love the format – push hard, recover, push again.
Today was a bit crazy – I was up at 4am to work for a few hours before my workout then I had 12 client calls, a podcast and a family wake that was 90 minutes away. Busy busy!
After my workout I popped by Whole Foods to get some cooked bacon from the bacon bar for my cabbage salad bowl. I had a couple pieces of it during the drive because it would be a bit before I had a break for breakfast.
Around 11am I had my cabbage salad bowl with cabbage, bacon, 1 egg, some avocado & Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo.
Later in the afternoon while driving to wake I had a bowl of carrots and 2 hard boiled eggs.
I stopped by Chipotle Mexican Grill on the way home & got a salad with chicken, pico & guacamole. I drank a bunch of coffee and sparkling water along the day.
Sorry for the abbreviated post today! Gotta keep movin’!
Today’s episode gets to the root of why most people aren’t successful:
They aren’t sure what they really want and they haven’t considered which choices give them what they want and which choices don’t.
Seems obvious, I know, but when you start to ask and answer the questions, you’ll be surprised by what you find.
In today’s episode I’m sharing a conversation with a Fat Loss Fast Track client where we quickly get to the heart of the matter. I ask her what she wants most.
She wants to finally feel proud of herself.
From there, we dive into what kinds of choices make her feel proud & what choices don’t feel proud.
When we look at the choices that don’t make her feel so proud, we see that she’s not using what she wants most as the determining factor in decision making.
When she uses that simple question, “Will this make me feel proud”, her choices become easier and her results improve dramatically.
In today’s episode I also talk a bit about Fatco Skincare – I’m not in any way affiliated with the company but I adore their skin care products.
I had been buying them from Fatco’s site but they’re so much cheaper through Thrive Market!
I use the Cleansing Oil which is $14.00 on the Fatco site and only 11.49 on Thrive Market!
Plus, the Myrrhaculous Face Cream (the other product of theirs I use) is $28 on the Fatco site and $18.29 through Thrive Market!!
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.
This series has one goal: to help you understand the dieting strategies that don’t work and the fat loss strategies that do.
Too many of us are investing our time, energy & hope into fat loss tactics that don’t work or aren’t sustainable. Nothing creates frustration faster.
Plus, the more failed strategies you pursue, the more you doubt yourself & damage your metabolism, making each subsequent effort more challenging.
It’s time to work with your body & not against it. It’s time to invest only in what works and let go of what doesn’t.
I know how frustrating it can be to feel like your body isn’t cooperating. Like you aren’t sure what to eat or not to eat, what’s fact & what’s fiction and to be constantly consumed with the pursuit of the right approach.
I know how exhausting it is to want change but fail to create it and have a huge, disappointing gap between your intentions and your actions.
This series will help you change that.
I’m speaking from decades of miserable experience.
I have tried every diet under the sun. I was addicted to finding a new program, plan, detox, strategy, hack, pill or potion.
In fact, I dieted my way to over 350 pounds. You can read my story here.
This 6-part series will set you free from dieting. You’ll understand how fat loss works and you’ll understand the most common dieting flaws that keep you trapped in the yo-yo cycle. You’ll differentiate between fads & facts and find how you can work with your body instead of against it.
In the following parts of this series, we’re going to dive deep into a variety of critical areas:
The Calorie Model Is Flawed
We’ve all been told that the key to weight loss is simply: eat less, move more. That’s not how fat loss happens. In part 2 of this series, we’re going to explore fat loss signaling in the body & what influences it. We’ll talk about the hormonal triggers required for fat burning & fat storage and show how certain foods influence these triggers. Sure, how much you eat matters, but looking at calories and macros as the answer to fat burning ignores how fat loss actually happens.
When you understand the cellular signals required for fat loss, you’ll be free from calorie & macro counting and you’ll get more results with less hunger and fewer cravings.
We’ll give specific examples that show how two different foods with the same number of calories and the same macronutrient breakdown create dramatically different fat loss responses in the body.
All or Nothing Is A Recipe For Failure
How many times have you been “on the wagon” or “off the wagon”? Guys, there is no wagon. Setting a standard of perfection or creating a definition of what “on” looks like means you’ll always have a reason to throw in the towel and start fresh the next day. That’s not going to work.
Your body doesn’t require perfection to generate progress. Plus, the pursuit of perfection is going to leave you frustrated and disappointed, even if you’re making progress.
In this part of the series we’re going to talk about seeking incremental progress so you can establish a strong foundation for sustainable change. We’ll establish how & why to let go of the notion of “on” plan and “off”.
Tools, Not Rules
We have a thing for rules. We love food lists, meal plans and structured diets. However, we usually don’t follow them. Okay, maybe we do for a handful of days or weeks (at best), but when we find a conflicting rule, we’re all confused and we stop trying.
These plans & rules feel good, they give us a sense of certainty, but that feeling isn’t linked to our ability to consistently execute.
Diets give you rules. They tell you what to think instead of teaching you how to think.
This leaves you totally dependent on the opinions of an expert and unable to identify what works and doesn’t work for your body.
Other people will always share their rules and opinions. But your body is unique. Your hormones, lifestyle, preferences, metabolism and everything in between is unique.
Instead of following rules and boxing yourself into someone else’s system, use what you learn as a tool to help you identify what works best for you & is sustainable over the long haul.
This part of the series will help you do just that & give you some tools to do the work.
Follow The Leader Will Leave You Stranded
Diets teach us to find a leader & do what they say. Whether the leader is a company, a book or a person, we heed to their authority and try to do what they say.
There is a much more reliable way to find answers that are true for you: listen to your body.
Most of us know more about reality TV stars and professional athletes than we do about our bodies because we’re so consumed with following someone else’s approach.
“Follow the leader” creates a handful of unfortunate problems.
The sheer number of potential “leaders” is distracting. Every time a new book, shake, program or opinion comes out, you’re hopping on the bandwagon of a new leader.
This alone prevents consistency, which is required for sustainable results.
We allow this to distract us. Instead of objectively facing our inconsistency & lack of follow through, we focus on the fact that we’ve changed our approach due a new plan (leader) when what really happened is that we didn’t follow through.
In this part of the series we’re going to address the leader-leader fat loss model & how you can adopt it in your own life.
Mindset Matters Most
There’s a huge gap between knowing what to do & actually doing it. Too often, our intentions far exceed our execution.
The reality is simple: we have more than enough information to reach our goals, but we’re not consistently acting on it.
Why? Mindset.
Our perspective and propensity to make excuses keeps us from taking action. We justify, defend and avoid more often than we dig in and do the work.
Sure, we’ll do it when we feel like it, but when we don’t feel like it, all bets are off.
You cannot create a different result with the same mindset.
Fat loss is less about your skillset and more about your mindset.
So where do we go from here?
Great question! In part 2 we’re going to completely break down calories, macros and how fat burning actually happens in the body. Most importantly, we’re going to talk about the strategies you can implement to consistently trigger fat burning and prevent fat storage in your own body.
In today’s episode I’m talking with one of my current Fat Loss Fast Track clients. For the first weeks, she was struggling to see results. But, in the two weeks prior to our chat, she had lost 5 pounds.
I asked her what changed. She said, “I started really paying attention to my hunger.”
Guys, hunger is so major.
Sometimes, as was the case for this client, when we’re eating healthy or fat loss friendly foods, we feel entitled to results. We get emotional about it.
“I’m eating healthy! Why isn’t the scale moving!”
Because you’re giving your body fuel when it doesn’t need it.
Sure, when you feel like snacking you’re choosing veggies and hummus instead of chips & dip but the reality is this: you’re giving your body more fuel than it needs.
Extra fuel, regardless of the type, gets stored. There’s no emotion about it. You don’t “deserve” results.
Today we’ll chat about understanding hunger, the common sense approach to knowing when you need more fuel and snacks that don’t work.
To see the snacks I recommend in today’s episode, see below.
To join the Fall Fat Loss Fast Track Wait List, click 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.
Months ago I found a beautiful quote on Instagram and have shared it a couple times since. It says “starve what keeps you stranded. Feed what makes you fly“.
It instantly reminded me of a quote, albeit in a very different tone, from someone I deeply admire: billionaire investor & undeniable genius Charlie Munger.
Speaking about the investment success he’s had with his partner Warren Buffett he says,
It is remarkable how much long-term advantage we have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid instead of trying to be very intelligent.
Let’s go back to the first, more eloquent quote…
Starve what keeps you stranded. Feed what makes you fly.
What makes you feel stranded, stuck or isolated? What choices lead to those end points?⠀
Seriously, sit down and make a list of the choices, thoughts & behaviors that make you feel those ways.
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For me, it’s over-eating, over-indulging, procrastination, thinking negatively & focusing on problems instead of solutions.
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Once you have your list of choices, thoughts or behaviors that leave you feeling stranded, frustrated or defeated, ask yourself what it means to starve those things.
To give them no energy, attention or time. What does that look like for you?
That’s the part that makes me think of the Munger quote:⠀ ⠀
⠀ It is remarkable how much long-term advantage we have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.
⠀
Once you’ve identified the things that make you feel stranded, you can avoid them. Instead of trying to stuff your days full of white-knuckle-willpower-disciplined-choices, what about just trying to be “consistently not stupid”?
Before you exhaust yourself trying to do all the things that are new and not yet habits, work to gradually avoid the things that make you feel your worst.
When you aren’t constantly making choices that make you feel bad, you’ll be amazed by a natural desire to choose things that make you feel better.
⠀
When you’re ready, feed what makes you fly.⠀
⠀ What makes you feel strong, capable, hopeful, joyful, free and confident?⠀
⠀ How can you incorporate those in the next 24 hours?⠀
⠀
If you aren’t sure, just work on step 1 for a while longer. ⠀
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For me, I feel free when I’m eating clean, when I’m sleeping enough, when I’m making time to have fun and I’m working out with intensity. I feel free when I’m focusing on opportunities & solutions instead of fixating on problems or challenges.
Starve what keeps you stranded. Feed what makes you fly.
Onward with the day – let’s talk about today’s workout & food choices.
When I first looked at today’s workout I thought, “that’s it?” It was a CrossFit benchmark workout called Strict Lynne and it’s all about strength and 2 major movement forms: the push & the pull.
“Strict Lynne”
5 Rounds:
Max Bench Press
Max Strict Pull-ups
Athlete moves directly from Bench Press to Pull-ups. Rest 3:00 between rounds.
Unfortunately, since I’m still allowing my shoulder to recover, I can’t do anything hanging from a bar or really anything overhead. So, I did ring rows instead of pull-ups and it was a tough workout.
I wish I could have stayed to do a metcon afterwards but I had to get to the Jeep dealership for a service appointment.
I did, however, get in some sprints on my Airdyne bike in the afternoon. It totally boosted my energy and improved my mood.
One thing that I think is totally undervalued is our own ability to generate energy. You know that afternoon slump when you’re feeling tired and just want to nap?
We can absolutely generate energy with our thoughts, actions or both. For me, blasting some great music and doing a short sprint workout on my Airdyne in my living room is a game changer!
Don’t settle for low energy. You are in control. Create it.
On the food front:
I don’t usually eat before my workouts but this morning I had bulletproof coffee before heading to the gym. I wasn’t all that hungry but I wasn’t coming home after my workout & I wasn’t sure how long I’d be at the car dealership so I made the call to put a little fuel in my system.
Around 11am I had my cabbage salad bowl with raw cabbage, 2 eggs, 1/2 an avocado and a couple slices of bacon.
Around 2:30 pm I had 2 keto kookies – I shared my thoughts on them on yesterday’s blog.
Dinner was purely the result of a dream I had last night. For some reason, I had a dream about cheesy cauliflower rice. I’ve never made it and I try to limit dairy, but after last night’s dream I decided to give it a try.
Using a bag of cauliflower rice from Trader Joe’s, some ghee (clarified butter) from Thrive Market and some goat cheese, I quite literally made my dream come true. 😉
I had a few ounces of grass fed steak along side it. Pretty tasty. Certainly not bad for a random dream!
I’ve had a few of you guys email me about ghee versus butter versus grassfed butter. Here’s the super short version scoop:
grass fed butter is more nutrient dense than conventional butter
looking at the fat in conventional butter, about 12-15% of it is in the form of short & medium chain triglycerides
grass fed butter and ghee are about 25% short & medium chain triglycerides – these are easier to digest and take a different metabolic pathway than long chain triglycerides. This alternative metabolic pathway means they are less likely to be stored and more likely to be used as an immediate fuel source
ghee is butter with the milk fat removed – that means it doesn’t have lactose & casein (both of which are common allergens)
There are more differences but those are the big ones. Ghee and grassfed butter can be expensive but by far, the best prices I’ve found on ghee are via Thrive Market.
The brand I often buy is Organic Valley Purity Farms. On Amazon, a 13oz jar is $17.20. That same jar is $10.95 on Thrive Market. C’mon now! Those kinds of savings on staples really add up!
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.
To hear more about how I’m working hard to save grocery market by comparing prices on my fat loss friendly staples, take a listen to episode 379 of the Primal Potential podcast.
