On today’s episode, “Getting Started with Weight Loss”, we’re talking about concrete steps to getting started, setting goals, staying accountable and maintaining focus & motivation! I think its great to talk about what you should eat and why, but the reality is that that’s not really where most people struggle. Most people struggle with the HOW. How do I make these healthier changes. How do I sustain them? How do I maintain my motivation? How do I get through the hard parts? And we want to help you with THOSE things.
Common Obstacle: Knowing how & where to start with your weight loss journey. What to tackle first? How? How do we stay focused? Should I follow someone else’s plan? If I want to create my own, how do I get started? What does that look like? How do I know if it’s working?
Primal Potential Solution: Identify your biggest pain point or most obvious obstacle to your success. Create a short term (4-week) goal to help you overcome that obstacle. Break that down further into four 1-week objectives and focus on ONE thing you can do each day to move towards your weekly goal.
Practical Implementation: This episode gives examples of what your pain point or obstacle might be and how you can craft a 4-week goal to improve that area of your life. We break it down into bite size pieces;
Identify your biggest pain point or the area of your lifestyle or diet that is holding you back the most
Set a 4 week goal to improve that area
Break your 4 week goal down into weekly goals
Each day, ask yourself what is the ONE THING you could do today that will help you move towards your weekly goal.
Do that right away
Stay accountable. Don’t set these goals and forget them. Ask for help. Read them daily. Keep them front and center
Finally, conserve your willpower by automating as much of your life as you can.
It’s hard to put into words how I feel about 2014. There have been obvious highlights and low lights. I love being able to reflect on what went well, what didn’t and how I hope to improve 2015.
The first quarter was really about progress and anticipation. I was making great progress with my fat loss and was preparing to have my skin removal surgery in April. I was able to keep my head down and stay focused because I knew that was right around the corner and I wanted to be as lean as possible for that.
The second quarter was really about recovery and patience. I was healing from surgery and I was preparing to leave my job to start Primal Potential. Since I couldn’t be as active as normal, I had a lot of time to think, plan and structure how I wanted to spend my time once I left my job.
The third quarter was about transition. I went from a high-stress, non-stop corporate job to working from home on my brand new business. It took a while to find my groove. In fact, I don’t think I found it in the third quarter. I switched gyms – a big change for me – and was really working on finding a rhythm that worked for me.
The fourth quarter was where the hard work started. I realized that in order to get the to the last & final phase of my fat loss I was going to have to start doing the EMOTIONAL work. I had become really good at eating clean and working out consistently but I had hit a bit of a roadblock. Though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that some of my emotional baggage was holding me back from reaching my true potential. I began meditating. I started taking long walks with my dog every day. I focused less on strict nutrition and more on careful observation of my thoughts and inner motivations. I’m still in this process. Though difficult, I know will be incredibly rewarding and will remove any and all artificial limits I’ve placed on myself. I’m learning a lot about myself.
I’m learning that no matter how much weight I lose, some people still won’t accept me. I am learning that this isn’t a function of my weight, but rather of those other people.
I am learning that weight loss doesn’t erase my weaknesses but exposes them. Fortunately, once exposed, I can begin to work on them.
I am learning that I need to look to myself for validation, not other people.
I am learning that shortcuts double the length of the journey and take you through some nasty places you really ought to avoid.
I am learning to surround myself with people who want to be a part of my story and not to waste precious energy on people who don’t.
I am learning that helping other people achieve their goals and transform their lives is the most valuable thing I can do with my time and energy.
I am learning that I am completely in control of my outlook and my outcomes.
In 2014 I really evaluated myself based on the rate of my weight loss. Sometimes that left me feeling incredible and sometimes it left me feeling defeated. Going into the new year I really want to continue working on evaluating myself based on my consistency, effort & attitude. I want to have more fun, go on more adventures, focus as much on my mental and emotional fitness as I do on my physical fitness.
Yes, I definitely have some body composition goals and I probably always will – I think those are great goals to have! But I also have goals related to my enjoyment of life, related to my business development, related to my personal development and my attitude.
Overall, it has been an epic year for me. I quit my job and sold my house. I launched a new company and began sharing my storing with the world. I’ve written over 500 pages of education, inspiration and documentation of my journey. I’ve become leaner, stronger and most importantly – I’m leaving 2014 with a heightened sense of gratitude and hope.
When I was a kid I played competitive AAU basketball. We took basketball SUPER seriously in my house. My sister Debi was always better than I was (and a good 6 inches taller) but we were both pretty focused. In fact, for a while we actually worked with a private coach – practicing drills for hours on the court outside his house.
I would lie in bed at night and imagine myself at the free throw line. I would imagine every detail – my stance, how the ball felt in my hands, the pace of my breath, the sounds in the gym, the movement of my body as I released the ball, the arc of the ball as it traveled and fell into the net. Why? Because at a young age I was told that we actually train our brain by what we think about and visualize. And I believed it. Of course, like many things we learn as kids, I kinda forgot about it as I got older.
Recently I was reading a book that talked about the way visualization techniques are being used to help people who are suffering from extreme pain caused by phantom limbs. In the earliest experiments (hundreds of years ago), researchers would simply cut holes in a cardboard box. The amputee would put their arm/leg into one of the holes and position their body so the missing limb was right up against the other hole. They would hold a mirror. Via the reflection, it looked as if they now had both their limbs. Remarkably, the amputees stopped experiencing the pain of the phantom limb. Through visualization, they were able to create a new reality for their brain. The amputees were encouraged to bring the box home and complete this exercise regularly until the pain completely disappeared.
Dr. Leonard Epstein, chief of behavioral medicine at the University of Buffalo, has studied the impact of visualization on weight loss at length. He refers to it as “episodic future thinking” and encourages overweight and obese people to vividly imagine a goal or event they are looking forward to. Its super important to note that he says the effect depends on how vividly the event/goal is imagined and how positive the event is. So the more exciting the visualization, the more important it is to you and the more detailed your visualization, the greater your success will be. He also recommends wearing some type of “tag” to trigger you to practice this visualization. This could be something like a rubber band on your wrist or moving your watch to the other hand or even a reminder set in your phone for a couple times each day. The people who routinely and vividly visualize their goal lose far more weight than those who don’t!
Using visualization for weight loss is a remarkably effective tool. I use visualization every day. I use it in two different ways and I do my visualization exercises first thing in the morning and again before bed. First, I visualize my day. Hour by hour I visualize what I’ll accomplish, how I’ll feel, my interactions with other people, what I’ll eat and how I’ll feel about it. I try to be as detailed as possible. I think through my workouts, the type of intensity I’ll exert, how I’ll feel afterwards, etc. I imagine how satisfied I’ll feel at the end of the day. In bed at night, I’ll visualize the same thing for the following day. So every day is being visualized twice – the night before and in the morning.
I also visualize my future goals being achieved. I do this by thinking about my ideal day. I think about where I’ll wake up in the morning on this ideal day. Who I’ll be with. How I’ll feel. What my body looks like. How I spend my day – in detail. Where my career is at on that given day. This detailed visualization only takes 2-4 minutes and is a part of my evening and morning routine.
I understand that many people think this is hogwash. And that’s fine. You don’t have to do it. But you can’t argue that there is a ton of science supporting its validity. And if you interview many of the world’s top athletes, they will tell you that visualization is a big part of their preparation. If you’re looking to improve your health and lose weight, I’ll ask you this: can it hurt? Can it hurt to add a few minutes of visualization into your day? For me personally, I’m looking for all the advantages I can get. Weight loss isn’t easy. Self-discipline isn’t effortless. Visualization doesn’t take long, it improves my mood and outlook and I also believe it helps fuel my success.
Have you ever tried it? What do you think? Is it something you’d consider adding to your day? Lemme know in the comments!
I love holiday shopping….for myself. Hahaha. I have to confess that I’m a super practical girl. I don’t like frivolous things. I think I’m a minimalist. If I can’t use it, I don’t want it. I don’t like clutter, I don’t like knick-knacks (I actually kinda hate them). I have been known to ask for dish towels and a vacuum for Christmas before (and have been THRILLED to receive them). I get a lot of crap about this from my family. Eh, you know, we all have our little things. Whether you’re a minimalist or not, I thought I’d share my favorite healthy holiday gift ideas in case you still have shopping to do!
The primary thing on my list this year is books. I absolutely love to read and think books are great gifts.
Here are a few of my FAVE books – I’ve highlighted and underlined just about every page in all three!!
Lululemon Bang Buster Headband – We won’t count how many I have but this is the ONLY headband I’ll wear during my workouts!!! I can’t have too many. These are perfect (but I hate the way the model wears them on their site)
Oh She Glows Tea – This is brand new and I recently got my first order. I’ll DEFINITELY be ordering more!! Its organic, its fair trade and most importantly, its amazing. I got 3 flavors initially and I’m obsessed with them all. I got the Apple Crumble, Black Maple and Caramel Latte. INSANE.
Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor – If you follow me on instagram you know I’m a huge fan of working out with my HR monitor. I used to wear it all the time and then I took a break for a while but I’m back to wearing it and I’ll never stop. I’ve tried 4 or 5 different ones and I like this one the best.
What’s on your list this year? I’m genuinely curious – let me know so I don’t miss out on any great ideas! I’m still building my list. What’s your “gotta have it”?
It sucks to not be happy with your body. It sucks to constantly be thinking about how you need to lose weight, how you aren’t happy with the way you look in your jeans, how you should eat better or exercise more. That SUCKS. And I can totally relate to feeling like you don’t have what it takes or nothing seems to work & you just don’t have it in you to stick to a healthy lifestyle plan. I’ve been there. It’s an awful place to be.
But I PROMISE you: you can do it. I PROMISE you: your life will be different. I PROMISE you: it will be worth it. I get so fired up when I talk to people about my 2015 coaching program because its so fundamentally DIFFERENT from everything else out there. I desperately want people to take the leap of faith and choose a NEW way of achieving your health goals, losing weight, and, most importantly, keeping it off. God, I want that so bad for you. I really do.
I get so pissed off when I evaluate other programs on the market. It makes me crazy that people put together these one-size-fits all approaches to weight loss. That’s not how it works!!!! What about hormonal imbalances? What about preferences, lifestyles, schedules, goals, etc? What works for one person might be completely unreasonable for another!
Then there’s the time frame stuff…so many programs out there that provide you with a 30 plan. Essentially, most of them are nothing more than a 30-day set of rules. How does that address the underlying issues? What are you to do when the 30 days are up? How do you maintain? Have you just swept the REAL issues under the rug?
And then there is the lack of accountability. Anybody can sign up for a program. But what happens when you fall off the wagon? You just fade away and go back to your old habits with nothing but a little less money in your pocket. No fun.
That’s why I developed my unique, customized, one-on-one fat loss coaching approach. I wanted something totally different that would give you the highest possible chance of success. Here’s what is totally different about the Primal Potential approach:
The plan is totally customized. We will evaluate your current diet & lifestyle and identify small, incremental changes. We’ll find your minimum effective dose for fat loss and we’ll master it. We’ll gradually build upon those successes.
We’ll get to the root of your weight problem. Do you self-medicate with food? Are you an emotional eater? Do you binge? Do you severely restrict? Are you either “on” or “off”? Why? We’ll dig in – together – and understand those behaviors so we can put them behind you forever.
We will talk on the phone and game plan every single week. We’ll go over what’s working & what’s not. We’ll talk about what you’re struggling with and identify strategies to overcome it. We’ll constantly be adjusting and correcting.
You’ll have unlimited email access to me. When you’re struggling or feeling unmotivated we will work through it together. If I sense you starting to pull away or fall off track, I’ll gently bring it to your attention. We’ll talk about why. We’ll identify ways to reset your motivation and get you excited and back on track.
I won’t provide a list of rules and restrictions. I’ll help educate you via emails, newsletters, webinars and shared resources and we’ll study your body’s response to various approaches. Together, we’ll create your lifelong fat loss formula.
You’ll have access to numerous tools I’ve created to help you monitor your body’s response to change so you begin to identify the most powerful fat loss factors for YOU.
We’ll work together for an entire YEAR so we can navigate plateaus, setbacks and crush some MAJOR goals.
I couldn’t be more excited. This is your chance to make 2015 a transformative, empowered year and I’d really like to make the journey with you. For all the info on the program and to apply, click here. Wednesday is the last day to get your application in. Please, believe me, YOU CAN DO THIS. Don’t miss this opportunity. I believe in you and I want to help.
