I’m going through a 66 day challenge with my Masters Club and I’ve been inspired by several of them who are seeing tremendous benefit in rest, productivity and progress by minimizing or eliminating TV. That has certainly inspired me.
On top of that, this weekend I read Ben Bergeron’s new book Chasing Excellence. It solidified my decision to cancel my cable and disconnect my television. The book never mentions TV, but it reminded me that I really want to create my best life and television isn’t part of my best life.*
*The New England Patriots, however, are unquestionably a part of my best life and I’ll watch every single game.
This isn’t a new idea, canceling my cable, but in the past, I’ve talked myself out of it. In fact, years ago, I begged my now ex-husband to get rid of all our TVs. He said no.
Why didn’t I ever do it? Especially since I’ve lived alone for a couple years now – why hadn’t I cut the cord?
I’d tell myself that I like to unwind at night watching some TV. That’s its a mental break from work. That there are a few shows I really enjoy.
But: is it adding anything to my life? Or maybe it’s better to ask: what is it adding to my life? And what is it taking away?
It adds nothing. It’s comfort zone. I could use that time for sleeping. I could use that time for reading. I could listen to more podcasts. I could spend more time with people I love. I could play games. Go for walks. Keep my home cleaner.
The only thing that was keeping me from doing it was my comfort zone.
Screw my comfort zone. I’m not interested in a comfortable life. I’m interested in my very best life.
Television is not a part of my best life.
After ASCEND in November, I’ll re-evaluate the decision. I’m not saying this is forever, but this will be at least through ASCEND.
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Today’s workout was pretty mild but it felt good since I’m sore from the weekend’s workouts.
3 rounds for time
33 banded good mornings
7 burpee pull-ups
10 hang power cleans
My butt was on fire from the banded good mornings. I’m still modifying due to my knee injury and I’m hoping to get the green light sometime this week to get back to squatting, etc.
On the food front:
I have a doctor’s appointment today at 2pm and I’ve decided to fast until then because I’m not sure if they’ll want to do blood work. I’d always prefer to be fasted just in case than have to schedule another appointment to return fasted.
It was a great chance to practice not being reactive to hunger. It was 3:30p by the time I got home and you bet I was hungry! However, hunger isn’t an emergency. Hunger doesn’t hurt. Hunger isn’t pain. I’m not going to starve.
At 3:30 I had a cobb salad from Paleo Power Meals with extra grilled chicken.
Around 6pm I had chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice and some greek yogurt with unsweetened cacao powder.
It was the 2nd full day without TV and I am so happy with how much more productive and focused I am. I’m proud of myself for making this decision.
Bye comfort zone, you add nothing to my life. You only take from it. I’m done with you!
What do you do when you don’t feel like doing the work?
I am all for indulging when it makes sense, but I also know that continuously justifying indulgences & overeating can keep you from your goals and be a huge source of frustration.
In today’s episode I’m sharing a few of my own personal strategies for overcoming that desire to throw in the towel or turn away from my goals.
If you feel like you need a better way to respond to temptation, stress, or simply the way you talk yourself into over-indulging, today’s episode is for you!
I bought a scale yesterday. I used to weigh myself daily but I haven’t had a scale in a couple of years.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, click here.
Back when my “forever fat loss” journey began, I weighed myself every day.
I kept a spreadsheet with my weight and once a week I’d take a picture of myself to see how my body was changing beyond the scale.
It worked for me. Beginning at close to 350 lbs, my fat loss was absolutely going to be reflected on the scale in terms of pounds. It was a great accountability tool for me.
However, once I dropped below 200 lbs, it stopped being such a valuable tool. Or maybe more accurately, I didn’t have the right mindset for it to be a valuable tool at that time.
I was leaner than I had ever been and I was working out more intensely than ever. The weight loss wasn’t as predictable and even though my body was changing, I was frustrated with the scale.
So, I ditched it.
(I think that’s the way most strategies work. They’re helpful for a while, they’re not so helpful for a while and maybe they’ll become helpful down the road. The key is to pay attention to what is working for you, what is not & what you can do about it.)
Since then, I’ve monitored my body progress through measurements and observation. I touch and look at my body on the daily and I know where to look for signs that I’m not moving in the right direction (my lower abdominals, my back).
My decision to buy a scale and start weighing myself again was based on two things:
how much I’ve learned from monitoring my hunger
practice in perspective and mindset
It’s not because I see the scale as a valuable indicator of fat loss: I don’t.
Let me explain the hunger thing. Paying attention to my hunger signals has been one of the most enlightening experiences of my entire fat loss & health journey.
For most of my life, the first sign of hunger was a trigger to eat and eat now. “Oh! I’m hungry! Time for a snack.”
I didn’t realize that hunger is a spectrum and that not all sensations of hunger mean I need to eat.
I’ve learned that my hunger ebbs and flows. I’ve learned that sometimes hunger is saying “don’t eat” as much as sometimes it’s saying “eat!“.
Let me give an example:
Dinner was at 6. It satisfied me. But, when laying on the couch watching TV at 9:15, I realize I’m kinda hungry. Eat or not eat?
The process of evaluating my hunger has taught me to ask:
How hungry am I?
Given what I last ate, when I last ate & how much I last ate, does it make sense for my body to need more fuel?
Is giving my body more fuel right now the best choice? Or is not giving my body more fuel the best choice?
See, if I give my body fuel by eating, it doesn’t need to turn to stored fat for fuel. In response to hunger I basically say to my body, “Oh, no need to get fuel from stored body fat. I’ve got ya! Here’s a couple handfuls of almonds.”
Given that I had dinner at 6 and I’ve been sitting on my butt since then and I’m about to sleep, not eating in response to that hunger is probably the best choice.
Plus, I learned that my hunger almost always subsides. Even 5 minutes after feeling really hungry, I can find myself not hungry at all.
That awareness, which came directly from paying attention, taught me so much about my body and dramatically improved my choices.
I think the scale has the power to teach me similarly powerful lessons. For example, I’d love to know, objectively, what eating dairy does to my body as measured by pounds and ounces.
I’d love to know what kind of weight loss, in pounds, a fast produces for me.
I’d love to know how much water I retain during my period.
I’m on a quest to know more about my body.
Can I do this without a scale? Sure can. Can you? Absolutely. Am I suggesting you start weighing yourself? No.
I’m suggesting you do what works for you to learn more about your body. Journaling is a powerful way to do this.
The other reason I bought a scale is mindset & practice. I’m human. I can get irritated by an unexplained jump in weight and I can get excited about seeing the number go down.
I want to train myself out of these emotional attachments to the number on the scale. That will happen with practice.
I also want to have some more recent frames of reference for “normal” daily fluctuations to help give context to so many of my clients who continue to be frustrated with what are completely normal fluctuations.
And lastly: it has been, in the past, a powerful motivator for me. Another form of accountability. And I’m excited to use it again without the drama it might have created in the past.
So, that’s why I bought a scale.
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I’m so excited for a workout that I can do as written!
This is my kind of workout! My shoulders were absolutely toast after those strict presses but it felt great!
On the food front:
I feel back to my normal self after being ravenous all day yesterday.
I only had 1 cup of coffee before my workout (that’s a sign that I’m working too hard) 😉 and was very ready to eat after the workout.
I had chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice from Paleo Power Meals and more coffee. I tried enjoy some new-to-me coconut cold brew from Trader Joes but if you follow my Instagram stories, you saw what a huge fail that was.
I took advantage of a few hours of sun (it’s been raining like crazy here) and enjoyed a cobb salad outside with extra chicken.
Dinner was super simple because I’m sure I’ll be going out to eat this weekend (and I’ll share those details over on Anchor). I whipped up cauliflower soup and a beautiful piece of salmon and I even had a small sweet potato! So freakin’ good.
Make it a great weekend, guys! I’ll see you over on Anchor!
We tend to think of “confident” as something we are or aren’t. I believe there are other ways to think about it.
One of my Masters Club members posted a powerful reflection on her transformation (mental & physical) that got me thinking of confident as an approach. For those who don’t feel confident in themselves, their abilities, their follow through or any other aspect of habit or persona, this might be a way to ease into confidence.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, click here.
Here’s what she wrote (emphasis mine):
One of the girls said I helped her get through her last race. She had wondered what I say to myself when I am prepping for a heavy lift bc when I move there is NO question that the move will be executed. It was one of the coolest compliments. So, I told her. “How can I make this lift easier? Get planted, engage. You’ve got this, you will lift this with ease, make it happen, you are strong, use your legs, go get it.” I had spent most of my life yelling at myself and it wasn’t working. So with Primal Potential’s help, I tried encouraging myself, it works every time!
Confident is the way she approaches a heavy lift. She decides first. She approaches. She engages. She executes.
It’s an approach.
We miss out on so many opportunities because we hem and haw. We dip our toes in the ocean of success and then run away for the security of the beach behind us.
Decide. Approach. Engage. Execute.
Confidence is your approach.
Get it done. Stop dipping your toes in success and charge forward. Grab a hold of the life you want and go for it. No more turning back and running for comfort.
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My knee is feeling a lot better but I’m still doing what I can to keep weight off it for another 5 days or so. I’ve been seeing my chiropractor twice a week to assess the strength of my knee and today it was much improved. He gave me the green light to bike today (at least that’s how I remember the conversation….) and see how it feels afterwards.
Here’s how today’s workout went down (scaled DT injury):
AMRAP 15
30 cal airdyne bike
9 toes to bar
9 single leg squats to a bench
9 hand release pushups
I’ll tell you what: it was a great workout! I can’t wait to be back to full throttle in the gym.
In other news: I bought a scale today. I haven’t weighed myself in eons. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow. 🙂
On the food front:
Dude. I am ravenously hungry today. My approach is simple: eat more and eat well. I’ve shared before that a few days before I start my period my appetite goes through the roof. There’s no need for me to battle this and resent it – I expect it and I act accordingly.
I eat more & I eat well. Real food. Clean food. Honor my hunger.
I know it doesn’t last forever so I’m not worried about eating significantly more than I would on some other day.
So: onto the food of the day. It started with a coconut meat “tortilla” with grilled chicken & avocado.
A few hours after that I had steak & sweet potato fries from Paleo Power Meals.
It was around dinner time that the hunger monster came around. I had a chicken salad with avocado, brussels sprouts with caramelized onions and then a couple hours after that I made a 2-egg omelet with arugula and broccoli.
Yep. It was a good amount of food but it’s pretty predictable for me. I’m good with it. 🙂
I recently did some 2 week journal reviews for my veteran Fat Loss Fast Track clients and decided it’s time to talk about the basics of fat loss and specific habits that will dramatically accelerate your results.
If you are trying but not getting results, this episode is for you.
If you aren’t trying but want results, this episode is for you.
If you feel stuck, unmotivated or unsure of where to start, this episode is for you.
If you think you know everything, this episode is for you. 😉
