In today’s episode I share a conversation with one of my Masters Club clients. When I asked her about the most significant changes she’s made in her life, she shared how she’s now certain that she is in control of her life. She’s in control of her food choices, her physique, her career, finances and much more.
Our discussion centers around a few follow-up questions: did you always feel like you had that control? And: how did you create it? How has that sense of control impacted how you take care of your body?
Specifically, we talked about how she transitioned to feeling limited because of her circumstances to feeling empowered regardless of her circumstances.
Then we got talking about her struggles. She isn’t seeing the physical progress she knows she is capable of and she feels like she needs more standards for herself when it comes to food. We quickly got to the root of the problem: eating too much of the “right” things. She’s improved the quality of what she’s eating, but the quantity is probably a bit much for her goals.
Together, we established a strategy for paying more attention to how much she’s eating versus how much she needs to eat.
I am crying as I write this. Tears of gratitude and disbelief and pure joy. (I blame it on my Masters Club clients – they’ve been sending me video messages all morning.)
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, click here. Based on your feedback from episode 359, I’ll be incorporating audio, though I’m not sure how yet. For today, click to listen.
Today is both my 34th birthday & Primal Potential’s 3rd anniversary.
You may or may not know this about me, but I am not a risk taker. At all. I seek certainty and security. I’m not a “ride or die” girl. I want to know where we’re going and I’ll be gripping the door handle and suggesting we slow down the whole way. Given that, it was nothing short of divine inspiration and temporary insanity that accounts for me leaving my job on the idea of being “a blogger”.
I really can’t believe I made that choice. It was undoubtedly the right choice, but it was completely out of character for me.
And it hasn’t been me who has made it possible. It is every single one of you. It’s every one of you who have listened to my podcast. Every one of you who have emailed asking for support. And especially, every one of you who have trusted me and invited me into your lives via the Fat Loss Fast Track, Breaking Barriers, ASCEND, Carb Strategies and one-on-one coaching.
Thank you. Thank you.
My morning has been full of video messages from my Masters Club clients and I hope they all feel my sincerity when I tell them that THEY are the best gift I could hope for today.
My 33rd year was full of ups an downs with health challenges, personal challenges, big moves and major changes. Reflecting back, here are a few lessons I’m taking out of year 33 and into year 34:
The New England Patriots are the best damn football team in the world. This past Super Bowl was the most memorable sports event of my whole life. Yup, I’m starting with football and I’m happy about it!
Defy your comfort zone. Take a hard look at where you’ve been complacent or comfortable and shake shit up. Now. Today. Do it again tomorrow, too.
If you have an idea, take action on it. Wishes are worthless.
Live your truth – be completely authentic. When you are truly yourself, the world will filter the right people in & the wrong people out.
Keep pushing. Life is too full of possibility to settle.
Know what you want and go after it, unapologetically.
Have more fun. Be more confident. Don’t consent to live small.
Stop worrying about what people think of you. Do what is best for you.
If someone isn’t proud to have you in their life just as you are, do not change yourself to conform to their preferences.
Express gratitude.
On that note, this would be easier to omit than to add but it’s on my heart today so I want to share it because it’s real. Though my ex-husband will never read this post or hear this, he deserves a lot of the credit for Primal Potential. When I told him I wanted to leave my stable, reliable job and it’s healthy paycheck, he could have said no. He could have discouraged me. He didn’t. He knew that I’d be starting from scratch as a first time business owner with nothing more than a personal passion and he said, “go for it”. No matter what else happened, I will always be grateful for his role in Primal Potential going from a hope to a reality.
Enough of the serious stuff! As I walked into the gym this morning, I was immediately met with “Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!” I guess my DOB is in the database but what a sweet surprise that was! We even warmed up with “birthday burpees” in my honor. I’m sure everyone appreciated that. Haha.
The workout was damn brutal.
“Tread Water”
2k Row
300 Single Unders
10 Rounds of Cindy
1 Round of Cindy: 5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Air Squats
After the workout I came home and had steak & brussels sprouts and got in a few more hours of work before heading out to Blue Hills Reservation to hike for a couple hours.
What’s the best way to wrap up a birthday hike? Birthday ice cream, of course!! I read about a new-to-me ice cream place that was voted “Best of Boston” and figured my birthday was the right time to try it out! I’m writing this blog before I head that way so I’ll have to update you with what I got & if it was worth it!
I absolutely love charcuterie so I’m planning to make up a charcuterie board for dinner tonight with meat, cheese, nuts and maybe a little fruit. That’s my idea of a great meal!
I love you guys so much, I’m incredibly grateful for you & here’s to many more amazing years together!
We make hundreds of choices each day. Without a clear paradigm for decision making, these choices can exhaust & overwhelm us. Worse, they can hold us back, keep us from our best life and anchor us to a life that is less than what we want.
When you have a framework for decision making or a simple filter through which you see your choices, you can eliminate a lot of the frustration, inconsistency & feelings of overwhelm.
Anything you can do to make choices easier & faster will not only ease your mind, but it will likely accelerate your progress.
I have a few such frameworks, but I’ll share one of the simplest ones with you:
Which choice makes me feel free?
At first glance, eating the cookie makes me feel free and depriving myself of the cookie makes me feel restricted. That’s first level thinking. That’s looking at the immediate choice & not the consequences of the choice.
Think beyond the pleasure of the moment. Looking at the consequences, which choice makes me feel free?
Eating whatever I want whenever I want it makes me feel trapped. Trapped in a life without progress. Trapped by habits I want to break. I did not feel free when I was obese. Not even a little bit.
Other choices, like minimizing the amount of indulgences I choose, working out regularly & getting as much rest & relaxation as my schedule allows – those things make me feel free.
Do what makes you feel free – free to live your best life, free to create your best health, free to enjoy all that life has to offer.
——-
I wasn’t really in the mood to workout this morning. I ripped the side of my hand during yesterday’s workout, I didn’t sleep well last night, my knee hurts, it’s raining & I’m buried in work.
But, I asked myself this question: which choice makes me feel the most free? Without question, working out makes me feel stronger & more capable.
I happily modified today’s workout to make sure I don’t further aggravate my knee. I swapped running for biking.
“Play Dead”
AMRAP 5:
42 cal bike buy in
12 Deadlifts (155/105)
12 Barbell Burpees
Rest 5:00
AMRAP 5:
28 cal bike buy in
9 Deadlifts (185/135)
9 Barbell Burpees
Rest 5:00
AMRAP 5:
14 cal bike buy in
6 Deadlifts (225/155)
6 Barbell Burpees
Needless to say, this got intense but I feel so great now that it’s over!
On the food front:
I wasn’t very hungry yesterday but I am today! I’m sure all those deadlifts contributed to that! After my workout I had steak & brussels sprouts.
Around 12:30pm I had chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice. I had to eat dinner before 6p because I had a video conference from 6p until long after my bedtime and I didn’t want to be eating on it! Around 5:30 I had a cobb salad with added grilled chicken.
I hope you choose thoughts & things that make you feel free today!
Wednesday July 12th is Primal Potential’s 3rd anniversary. Pretty crazy, right? The very most important thing to say today is THANK YOU.
Primal Potential wouldn’t exist without you & it exists for you. In today’s episode I’m sharing some ideas I have for making this community even more fun & transformative for you.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making Primal Potential what it is and everything it will become. I am beyond grateful for you!
If you want to help me celebrate, it would mean the world to me if you’d take a second to leave a rating & review of the podcast on iTunes (Apple Music) or wherever your listen.
When I was 350+ lbs, a lot of my misery came from my mindset. There were parts of life I absolutely could have & should have enjoyed, but I let my negativity about my body get in my way.
It didn’t have to be that way. I could have been more social. I could have worn dresses & skirts & bathing suits. Being overweight didn’t prevent me from those things, my thoughts about being overweight did.
There’s a difference.
But, there are things that my physical size did keep me from.
I was constantly worried that if I went to a concert or sporting event the seats would be too small and I wouldn’t fit or I’d be uncomfortable.
I was anxious about flying because I didn’t want to encroach on the space of the person next to me.
I avoided hiking, biking & kayaking because I didn’t think I had the capacity to keep up. I didn’t think I’d fit in the kayak.
There were tremendous limitations, both mental & physical. The things I missed out on because of my weight were NOT worth the choices that were making me overweight.
Yesterday I had a moment where I realized just how far I’ve come.
My boyfriend suggested we go kayaking. I didn’t think twice about it. My only thoughts were “Yes! It’s a gorgeous day, that would be fun!” (Maybe I also thought “Should I? I have so much work to do!” but I quickly replaced those thoughts!)
There was a time when I’d have tried to find a way out of it. I’d have been afraid that I wouldn’t fit in the kayak. I’d have been nervous about getting in and out without falling or needing help. I’d have worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. And, because I lacked confidence and joy, I’d have been completely resistant to wearing a bathing suit.
Yesterday, I put on my bathing suit (which I love & think is sexy), helped carry the kayaks to the water, pulled mine out, hopped in it & paddled away.
We kayaked out to an island where I easily got out of the kayak and then walked back into the water to dig for clams.
My only limiting factor yesterday was my mascara. Quite literally. When I found a clam with my feet, I didn’t dive to get it because I didn’t want to get mascara all over my face. Haha. True story. Don’t worry, I stood on top of it while the boyfriend dove to pull it up. #notsorry
As I walked back through the water to my kayak on the island I thought, “This is the best part of weight loss. This is what made it worth it“.
It’s not about the size of my pants. It’s not about what I see in the mirror.
It’s the ability to live life fully and without real & perceived limitations. It’s the ability to get into and out of a kayak. To be more concerned with the adventure of the moment than the cellulite on my thighs.
To be able to just say “yes” to life and be free from all the fears and reservations that seemed incessant when I was obese.
Here’s an important thing to remember: people live with optional limitations whether they’re overweight or not.
Let go of the limitations.
Say no to the things that create those limitations – they can be choices or thoughts.
If it creates a limitation due to your perspective or your ability – say no. Say no so you can say yes to your life.
——-
After getting home late last night and having hundreds of emails in my inbox this morning, I didn’t get in my normal early workout. I didn’t even mentally commit to going later. I just decided, “not now”.
After staying focused on work for a few hours, the feelings of overwhelm subsided and I headed to the gym for the 12:30p workout. I didn’t want to go but I knew I’d feel better if I did than if I didn’t. It was actually a great workout.
Rowing outside yesterday in the kayaks was so much more enjoyable than rowing in this workout! No surprise there! But I’m glad I did it.
On the food front:
I am straight up not hungry today. At all. I’m sure it’s related to the wine, cocktails and amazing food on Saturday at my favorite restaurant! I drank black coffee all morning and didn’t have lunch until after my workout.
Around 2pm I had a chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice from Paleo Power Meals and then a cobb salad for dinner.
I know I’ve said this before but the calorie & macro counting movements that suggest we should eat the same amount every day don’t make sense for my body. My hunger is variable day to day depending on my sleep, workouts, hormones, etc. I’d rather listen to my body than hit some arbitrary numbers.
