I love when you ask questions and suggest topics for the podcast. You know why? Because that’s the whole point of the Primal Potential podcast! The entire goal is to help you help yourself! This is your podcast and my sole objective is to help you help yourself live a happier, healthier life! If you have questions or are struggling, be sure to let me know so we can begin to work through them on the show!
Just the other day on Instagram, I asked what questions or topics you’d like to hear about on the podcast. A ton of of you submitted questions and I’ve divided them into two episodes.
In episode 534 we talked about binge eating, the holidays, travel and resisting negativity. Today, we’re taking a hard right turn. I’m answering your questions about starting a business, overcoming procrastination, recovering from workouts and, though seemingly random, what’s behind acid reflux and what (surprising) thing you can do to make it better.
Hunger durability. Have you heard that phrase? To me, it essentially means how much control and calmness you have in response to hunger. Are you immediately reactive or uncomfortable? Does hunger have more influence over your choices than you do?
That certainly used to be me. The slightest twinge of hunger sent me in search of snacks. My lack of hunger durability was a huge barrier to fat loss and also really prevented peace of mind. I was always thinking about food. Cooking it, cleaning up after cooking, eating or planning what to eat next. It kinda sucked. And, because not all hunger means that your body needs fuel yet I was eating when I felt hunger, I really lacked an understanding of my own hunger & satiety signals. No bueno.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please hit play. Otherwise, keep reading below.
Last year, I agreed to do a 5 day fast with my friend Ella. I was terrified. In fact, I was convinced I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t even sure it was healthy. I didn’t think it was a good idea but I was open to the experiment.
It was amazing. I learned so much about hunger and got to witness the way extreme hunger fades in minutes if you don’t respond to it. It gave me a whole new context for hunger and my body’s need for fuel. Yes, the first few days were pretty tough, but I developed so much confidence over that 5 days. I’m so glad I did it.
I’ve done a few episodes on fasting – one on intermittent fasting and a couple others on longer term fasting and also on my experience last year with a 5 day fast. If you have questions, those episodes are a great place to start.
So why am I doing this again now? And what does a 7 day fast mean to me?
The primary reason I’m doing it is because I like to challenge myself and I see real value in improving my response to hunger.
Here’s how I explained this after last year’s fast.
Have you ever stepped in the shower and felt like the water wasn’t as hot as usual? Maybe you thought, “Yikes! This is cold!!”
But, what if you intentionally turned the water all the way to the right – as cold as it gets. What you thought was cold before really isn’t so cold, is it? In fact, relatively speaking, it probably feels warm compared to your new understanding of cold.
Contrast gives us context.
Contrast informs our perspective. If your only experience of hunger is how you feel it within a couple hours of eating, you just don’t have the power of context due to contrast. Fasting dramatically improves my understanding of and appreciation for hunger.
There’s also an impressive amount of science in support of the cleansing & detox benefits of extended fasting. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I froze my eggs a few months ago.
I’ve decided this will be a joyful fast. This week is launch week for my spring coaching groups and I’m excited for the simplicity of a fast. No meals to plan, prep, or clean up from. I will do it with a great attitude – this isn’t a punishment. I’m not a victim of this choice and hunger isn’t an emergency.
I get the salt from Thrive Market* and I’ll add a pinch to my water. If I feel really hungry, I’ll add a pinch of the salt right under my tongue.
That’s it. I started Monday night and I’ll continue for 7 days.
You can join me for 24 hours, 36 hours or none at all! You can follow along on my Instagram stories where, after a couple days, I’ll share blood ketones. (I’d share blood ketones now but I realized last night I didn’t have any test strips left so I need to wait until they get here on Thursday.)
If you have questions, definitely check out those episodes and of course, feel free to ask any questions in the comments!
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.
Is eating more fat going to increase your cholesterol?
What if you started eating more fat and your cholesterol levels did go up? What does it mean? What does it not mean? How do we interpret cholesterol panels and what should we be paying attention to?
What about triglycerides? Won’t eating more fat increase triglycerides?
If you’ve got these questions, I’ve got your answers!
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.
Most of us aren’t taking advantage of a huge tool at our disposal: light.
Light has the ability to increase our metabolism, speed our healing, reduce inflammation, increase energy and much more.
Yet, we take it for granted. We think using light is quackery. It’s not.
Try to grow a plant in the dark. Overexpose a plant to light. See what happens.
Light is a super-nutrient, as important to human health as it is to plant health, if not more.
Light can dramatically improve our hormones, energy, metabolism, healing, immune system & more.
Alternatively, if not optimized, light can make us tired, unfocused, depressed and sick.
Today we are learning how light influences us, the different types of light and the differing impact and what simple and complex solutions we can begin to implement.
You can become a better fat burner. If you are overweight, if you have regular cravings or feel like you’re hungry all the time, I’d bet that your body isn’t very good at burning your stored body fat.
We can change that.
In today’s episode we’re talking about how you train your body to either be carbohydrate dependent or an efficient fat burner.
If your body can’t efficiently access your stored fat as fuel, you’ll have to eat more than someone who can efficiently access & burn fat. Plus, you’ll be more hungry & have less energy.
We’re going to address what ketosis is, what ketones are and how you can begin to train your body to become a better fat burner.
We’re also chatting about an upcoming masters class on creating motivation & building consistency. Honestly, none of these nutritional strategies matter if you don’t have the discipline to build the habit in the first place. I hope you’ll join me! Here’s the link to register:
Ketosis is a state of metabolic efficiency where you are able to burn stored energy in the form of body fat and ketones & not be dependent on regular high carbohydrate meals to sustain your energy, mood and cognitive focus.
Ketones are an energy source just like carbs, fat & protein are energy sources. Ketones can be used by your brain, your heart, and your muscles. Ketones are produced by the liver as a byproduct of fat metabolism.
Ketones produced under certain conditions:
blood sugar is low
insulin is low
muscle & liver glycogen stores are low
To understand more about this, listen to the following episodes of the Primal Potential podcast:
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.
