Acknowledging that you do have limiting beliefs is the very first step toward getting past them. This Saturday we’re talking about the challenge in it and why it’s very important to do!
We’re giving away Klassy Glasses gift card in today’s episode! https://lddy.no/9te8
Here are the questions we’re answering this Saturday:
How do I change my limiting beliefs?
How can you decrease inflammation in your body?
What are the best natural sources of probiotics? What is an appropriate serving to maintain gut health?
Why do I continually make poor food choices even when I know better?
Does Elizabeth do 1:1 virtual nutrition counseling? I am overwhelmed by all the diet information out there and would be very interested in this.
Today’s giveaway winner gets a Klassy Glasses gift card! You can use the coupon code PRIMAL when you purchase a pair of glasses! https://lddy.no/9te8
Be the winner of our next giveaway! Just don’t forget to leave a review of the Primal Potential podcast on our Apple Podcasts page, let us know what you think about Chasing Cupcakes on Amazon, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tag us to share your favorite episode of the program! We’d love to read all of it!
It’s easy to focus on things you want to do. And while it’s easy to list them off, it can quickly become overwhelming. So many good intentions, so little energy to act on them all.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click play. Otherwise, keep reading below.
I’d like to propose a different approach.
As I drove to the gym this morning, I was listening to Cal Fussman interview Tim Ferriss in his June 30th podcast episode.
Tim was talking about his writing philosophy and how he tries to remove words that add to drag.
When you’re writing, extra words, redundant phrases and unnecessary explanations can absolutely bog down a story.
Cutting out what slows things down is not only a great way to approach writing, but also a powerful way to approach life.
In your life, what adds to drag? What slows you down? What slows down your progress? What choices or patterns are keeping you from reaching your goals or living a life you love?
I’ll give a few examples from my own life.
Not getting enough sleep.
Drinking alcohol frequently or in excess.
Sugar & starch
Negativity or complaining
Procrastination
Comparison
Clutter
How about you? Don’t just read these words. Use them. Make a list.
From there, come up with a strategy to remove what adds to drag TODAY.
You don’t have to make a pledge or commitment for the next month. Simply focus on today.
In episode 496 of the podcast I answer a question that was sent to me on Instagram. Someone asked, “How did you get to the point of not telling stories, not binging and becoming consistent?”
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click play. Otherwise, keep reading below!
Here’s the thing: I still tell stories. I still make excuses. But, there’s a difference in my response to them now.
I refuse to accept incomplete truths and well-intended lies.
It hasn’t always been that way. In fact, for most of my life, my days were merely a sequence of lies and incomplete truths strung together.
This one thing won’t hurt.
I’ll binge today so it’s out of my system and I’ll be super strict tomorrow.
Well, I’ve already screwed up today so I might as well go all in.
I’ve been so good, I deserve this.
All of those statements, and so many more, are incredibly incomplete truths.
They serve only one purpose: justify what I want in a moment.
Here’s the beautiful thing for all of us: if we can talk ourselves into what we want in any moment, we can also talk ourselves out of it. We just aren’t choosing that side of the equation.
I wouldn’t say “I’ll binge today and get it out of my system” for any reason other than to justify the choice to overeat.
It’s absolutely not true that eating well and taking great care of myself is a valid reason not eat well or not take great care of myself. It is a well-intended lie. It’s not malicious, it’s simply permissive.
Those stories, excuses and lies were deeply engrained. While I haven’t eliminated those thoughts, I’ve completely changed my response to them.
I demand the full truth from myself.
I routinely ask queustions like:
What else is true?
Is this the complete truth?
Am I trying to justify something?
Will I be proud of this later?
If this was someone else’s logic, would I agree with it?
If you find yourself in a pattern of incomplete truths, excuses, exceptions or well-intended lies, carve out some time to listen to episode 496 today.
Here’s a recap of day 2. It was a tough day because I gave blood.
Pro tip: Don’t do any kind of fasting when you’re scheduled to give blood. Blahhhhhh.
Anyways, let’s talk about the day.
I felt awesome all morning. Remarkably, I wasn’t hungry until about 10am. I got up at 4:45am so I was pretty pleased with that! In fairness though, I’m not usually hungry in the AM unless I drank the night before (the blood sugar impact is REAL).
10:20am:bulletproof coffee made with 1 tbsp butter & 1 tsbp MCT oil. I also chugged a few glasses of water to get prepared for the blood donation.
Sometime later….
Irrrrrrrrritable. Sorry to all my clients who had to interact with me! 😉
11:15am: two large handfuls of macadamia nuts prior to noon blood donation and allllll the water. I easily drank a couple gallons of water before donating. I really think that makes a huge difference in my post-donation recovery.
PSA: If you are able, please donate blood. There is a critical blood shortage in the United States. This is in large part due to the fact that only about 10% of people who are eligible to donate do so. Can you imagine being in the hospital, needing blood to save your life and being told that there isn’t any available? If you expect blood to be available to you when you need it, please donate! Learn more at RedCrossBlood.org.
3:30pm: two mugs of bone broth with salt added. I’m not feeling too hungry but I figured the salt/water would be a good thing after my blood donation. (For more on bone broth, check out this episode of the podcast).
5:12pm: Who said not feeling too hungry?! I’m feeling tired, unfocused and really hungry. It’s interesting though – between the nuts, BP coffee and bone broth, I know my body has sufficient fuel. I’m reminding myself that this is my normal tough time of day. Whether I’m fasting or not, the 3p-6p hours are toughest for me each day. It’s when my motivation, focus, energy and hunger challenge me most.
Because I’m a science geek, I like thinking about what is happening in my body at the cellular level as a result of this fast. Muscle & liver glycogen are being used up to keep my blood sugar steady. Insulin is low. Stress hormones are probably up a bit as a result of the blood donation. Because insulin is low, my body stands ready to burn fat when I use up my muscle & liver glycogen stores.
Call me crazy, but thinking about that helps me stay strong and focused.
6:45pm: I’ve never tried this before, but I blended bone broth with some butter. Probably less than a tablespoon of butter but I wanted some fuel in my system along with the bone broth (which doesn’t contain much energy).
Like I said yesterday – I have a choice in this fast. I can argue for all the reasons not to do it (they exist, for sure) or I can argue for all the reasons to do it. I could talk about how it’s “good enough” to just eat clean. I could argue that I should eat because I gave blood. I could argue that I’ll get results with easier approaches. All true.
Just because they’re true doesn’t mean they’re best.
Or I can argue against those excuses. I can tell myself that it’s good to give my body a break. It’s awesome to prove that I’m stronger than my habitual thoughts. It’s important to keep the promises I make to myself. That I’ll be proud when this is finished. My body deserves a break and I can learn so much along the way.
When I take on the true fast with Ella in March, I know I’ll need to maximize this strategy. I’m thinking I might keep a list of reasons I’m doing it & reasons I’ll be glad I did. When I’m feeling full of excuses, I’ll revisit the list of why.
Sure, it’s a book about concentration, not a book about health or fat loss, but I’m telling you right now: if you harness the power of concentration for weight loss, you will dramatically improve your results.
A couple episodes ago I talked about a clip from the movie “Any Given Sunday” and how Al Pacino (the coach) shares with the team that games are won & lost by inches and the inches we need are all around us.
The same is true in behavior change, fat loss and health. The inches we need are all around us and the power of concentration gives us many of those inches we need.
Listen to the full episode to learn how we can apply the power of concentration to all our weight loss, health, fitness and personal goals.
The Power of Concentration begins by talking about the power of focus. I’ve shared many times how I think one of the most destructive things we can do is try to achieve too many objectives at once.
This is how my simple mind thinks about it – you know that carnival game where you have a gun & a target? When you pull the trigger, the gun shoots water at the target? The more consistently you hit the center of the target with the stream of water, the faster the ballon above the target rises, driven by the concentrated force of water.
But, what would happen if you tried to hit 3 targets at once? You still only have 1 water gun & one source of water. You’d make slower progress while still exerting the same amount of effort, balloons over each target rising more slowly.
This is why we need to harness the power of concentration. As it relates to weight loss or fat loss, I believe we do this by tackling ONE behavior change at a time.
I learned a few key lessons from The Power of Concentration which I share in detail in today’s episode. They include:
Identify & eliminate areas from which your energy escapes (and is wasted)
The bank president story – establish the mission & do something each day to move you in that direction. At the end of each day, evaluate what action(s) you took
Never make decisions in a negative state of mind
Make decisions more quickly. Silence the internal debate. It wastes both time & energy
You will benefit more from doing 1 hard thing than 12 easy things
Practice the power of concentration
I share some of the ideas about how to practice concentration in ways that relate to your health & fat loss goals including breathing, focus and visualization.
