I’m celebrating because I’m on vacation, in BERMUDA! I wanted to take a minute to share with you my intention/strategy for this trip.
If you’d rather listen to this email than read it, please click here. Otherwise, keep reading below.
Vacation used to be a total free-for-all. I’d eat whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted because, hey, ‘it’s vacation’. The problem was, I’d feel awful. Heavy. Tired. Self-conscious.
I’d come home feeling like I had to crawl out of a hole I dug for myself. It sucked. It wasn’t worth it and I didn’t have as much fun as I could have because the trip was clouded by thoughts about food and food choices. No bueno.
Then, I swung in the opposite direction. For a couple years, I sat on the sidelines. I was militant about my work, my workouts and my food choices. Sure, I was rested and my energy was great, but I was using “structure” as a barrier to connection and experience.
I told myself this story that indulging equals fun and not indulging equals not fun.
Fortunately, I now realize that’s total BS. It’s not either/or. And if it feels like it is, you’re doing it wrong.
I can eat in a way that makes me feel amazing AND really treat myself AND enjoy every bite of food that passes my lips without missing out. It’s really all about the story you tell yourself and the perspective you choose. There is always another way. Dozens of other ways. I will be looking for foods I will LOVE and enjoy eating that will also make me feel amazing (helllllllo ceviche & fresh fish!)
I see every day as an opportunity to enjoy life more and live in alignment with what I want most, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to share my perspective on this trip.
First – I want to feel amazing every single day. I want to feel happy, lighthearted, present, confident and energized.
My first step is to get clear on what kinds of things will make me feel that way and what kinds of things won’t make me feel that way.
Do:
Get lots of sleep
Journal every morning
Sweat every day
Play every day – prioritize FUN and connection
Drink lots of water
Don’t:
Overeat
Make choices that make me feel crappy
Submit to insecurity. Sexy is in how you carry yourself and drama ain’t sexy.
Work too much
Take anything too seriously
Worry
There’s a real simple filter I’ll put my choices through: will this make me feel amazing? If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no. Maybe a bite of the dessert will make me feel amazing but having the whole thing is a NO.
Yes, I’ll work every day. I’ve set boundaries for myself that work is between 5am-10am.
Yes, I’ll drink alcohol. I’ll only choose drinks that are really worth it and I won’t have more than 1 drink per day. (More than that and I’m likely to not feel how I want to feel.)
Yes, I might indulge in sugar, but only if it’s worth it and only in a way that still allows me to feel how I want to feel (amazing). (As long as the internet connection is good, I plan to post everything I eat/drink on my IG stories)
However, my biggest focus isn’t on work, workouts, food or alcohol. It’s about connection.
Worrying about how I look in a bathing suit does NOT foster connection with the boyfriend. In fact, it’s a barrier to it. So, I’ll be choosing PRESENCE over projection.
Worrying about the emails that come in at 11am won’t help me connect with the boyfriend. That would be a barrier to connection, so I’ll keep my attention on the moment we’re in.
While these are my vacation practices, they’re also totally applicable to TODAY! To this week at work! For your dinner out tomorrow or absolutely any other time so try them on for size!
I asked you guys over in the Primal Potential FB group if you wanted to hear about podcast about the trip & the strategy in action and the answer was a resounding ‘yes’ so be sure to stay tuned for that soon!
Oh! And don’t forget that I’m doing free weekly coaching videos for everyone who is on the wait list for the summer 12 WT! Here’s a link to get on the wait list if you aren’t on it already!
My travel habits used to be a complete nightmare. I’d binge in airports, overeat on roadtrips and justify every indulgence because I was out of my normal routine.
All the while, I’d make myself empty (yet well intentioned) promises about how “on point” I’d be when I returned home.
I’d return home from vacations, business trips or road trips feeling exhausted, defeated and tremendously disappointed in myself.
I was both physically & emotionally heavier than when I had left.
Because of this habit, I feared travel. I felt like it was impossible to make progress towards my goals, impossible to avoid derailing, when I was away from home.
But, I successfully transformed my travel habits & in today’s episode I’m going to share with you the steps I took to create the change.
A question I get all the time is: “What do you order when you go to (insert restaurant or type of place here)”
I thought I’d take a few minutes to answer several iterations of that question. If you’re curious about a different type of cuisine or part of my personal strategy, drop a question in the comments and I promise to respond!
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click here.
Let me add a little disclaimer before I answer this: what I order isn’t neccesarily what you should order. What I order is based primarily on my preferences – what I like and what I don’t like. It’s also based on my goals, what satisfies me, what doesn’t, what triggers cravings for me, what doesn’t, etc.
This morning I posted in my Instagram story a couple Starbucks cups and someone asked, “What do you order when you go to Starbucks?”
Nine times out of 10 I get a venti (large) dark roast – black. Every once in a while I’ll get an Americano, also black. Drinking sugary drinks just makes me crave more sugar. No thanks!
I get dozens of direct messages on Instagram each week when it’s obvious from my pictures that I am out to dinner. I probably eat dinner out 2-3 times each week – sometimes more, sometimes less.
It is super, super important to me that I enjoy my food. I’m never going to eat like a rabbit or order something I don’t like just because it’s “healthy”. Nope. I eat foods I love that love me back. I get a lot of questions about what that looks like for me. Here are a few examples:
Last night I went out to dinner and I ordered filet mignon and a side of brussels sprouts. I also started with a simple green salad.
Last week at a seafood restaurant I ordered a grilled swordfish steak that came with gnocchi and brussels sprouts. I had one of the gnocchi and decided it wasn’t worth it. My boyfriend ate them.
A couple weeks ago I went to an event at a bar and got chicken wings. I won’t do wings that are fried/battered but when there is a dry rub (especially a spicy one), I’m all in on that.
I love a good cobb salad but I omit any candied nuts, croutons or dried fruit.
When you drink alcohol, what do you drink?
It’s always either a dry red wine or tequila. I love margharitas, but NOT when they are sweet. I ordered one last night and told the bartender “all heat. no sweet”. I wanted a spicy drink but not a sweet one. I don’t drink very often and when I do drink, it’s not very much. If I order a drink and it’s not amazing, I just don’t finish it.
What do you snack on?
I feel my best when I don’t snack. I think it’s because I’m making fewer food decisions. I don’t want to give any of my energy to the questions that used to dominate my days like “Should I snack? Am I hungry? What should I have? How much? Now? Now? How about now?”
That is exhausting.
Instead, I structure my meals so they fill me up. The key to this, for my body at this time, is lots of non-starchy veggies.
I don’t tend to be hungry in the morning (but if I am, I’ll make breakfast) so my “brunch” tends to be a meal with lots of non starchy veggies, some fat and some protein. This often looks like some version of my famous cabbage salad bowl.
Dinner looks the same: mostly non-starchy veggies. Some fat. Some protein. My favorite non starchy veggies are brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower.
That strategy allows me to avoid snacking because I’m simply not hungry. Having lots of snack options around just makes it more complicated for me.
If I do snack, I’ll grab a packet of Artisana Coconut Butter or a handful of nuts.
Do you have any other “what do you eat” questions for me? Leave them in the comments and I’ll happily update this post with them!
For most people, eating out is a struggle when they’re trying to lose weight.
Maybe you feel like your options are limited or if you make a “healthy” choice, you’re making a sacrifice and won’t enjoy it.
Sure, we all know that we could get a salad or a burger without the bun and if that’s the extent of the options we think we have, of course we feel limited!
There are so many other creative ways to enjoy eating out, love your food and feel great after you eat it!
Today’s episode is a short one but hopefully it will give you some great new ideas for the next time you eat out!
In episode 388 I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Sisson to talk about his new book, The Keto Reset Diet. During that interview I decided to give the reset a try, as a way of encouraging my body to be a better fat burning.
Surprisingly, my boyfriend decided to do the reset as well & in the first 12 days he lost 19 pounds.
He was talking about it with some friends when we were out to dinner the other night & the amount of bad (well intentioned but misinformed) advice that got tossed around was staggering.
I’m not one to give unsolicited advice so I didn’t jump in or counter any arguments, I just listened. I’m sure my boyfriend knew that my mind was racing, but I’m certainly not going to correct anyone who isn’t looking to learn (but rather to share what they’re sure they know).
Anyways, in today’s episode I thought I’d share the advice that was tossed around and give my two cents where people do come to hear my insights & opinions.
This past Sunday I sent out the details of what my boyfriend has been doing to lose the weight to everyone on my free VIP email list. Click the button below to get on the VIP list & get the meal ideas & recipes right away!
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.
