CONSISTENT by Primal Potential

Latest Episodes:

251: Justifying Indulgences Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

Let's stop justifying indulgences. Let's stop talking ourselves into treats when we want our goals more. Today, I'll tell you how!

You don't have to justify brussels sprouts or chicken, so why do you feel like you need to justify treats?

Beyond that, is the way you're justifying them even true? Are you being honest with yourself with your justifications?

In today's episode I'm talking about HOW you can stop justifying and start owning your choices, whether they're aligned with your goals or not.

http://primalpotential.com/251-justifying-indulgences/

250: Motivational Minisode Oct 29, 2016

Show notes

There are so many things competing for your focus. It's easy to feel overwhelmed and like the deck is stacked against you.

It's easy to focus on what you can't do. Maybe your schedule isn't conducive to the changes you want to make.

Maybe your spouse isn't supportive.

Maybe you're overwhelmed.

Maybe you have a long history of giving up on yourself and you struggle with belief.

I get it. Those are all very real.

But, focusing on those things don't help you and focusing on those things isn't your only option.

In today's motivational minisode, I'm challenging you to focus on this: what you can do.

What you are willing to do.

What step you can take.

What options you do have.

What progress you're ready to make.

Do not miss this powerful motivational minisode!

http://primalpotential.com/250-motivational-minisode-focus/

249: Ending Excuses Oct 27, 2016

Show notes

Today is about ending excuses, especially that tried & true excuse of, "I'll start tomorrow".

Here's the reality: it doesn't matter how motivated you are, it doesn't matter how great your plan is or how much you want it if you are in the habit of talking yourself into delay, deferral or excuses.

Instead of focusing on what to eat, when to eat or the latest, greatest diet, I encourage you to look at the ways you talk yourself into not doing the work, and focus on overcoming those limitations.

We're doing that together in today's episode. Don't miss it!

http://primalpotential.com/249-ending-excuses

Ending Excuses: "I'll Start Tomorrow"

Yes, tomorrow exists. However, it has nothing to do with what you can do today.

When we put off our plans, when we defer our goals to tomorrow, it's just a way of making ourselves feel better about not doing the work.

We don't want to say "I'm not going to eat healthy" so instead we say "I'll do it tomorrow".

What you can do tomorrow doesn't have anything to do with what you can & should do today.

When you defer the work until tomorrow, you reinforce a pattern of delay.

The more you use that excuse, the more likely you are to continue to use it.

Become increasingly aware of when you're avoiding taking action.

Replace thoughts of what you pledge to do tomorrow with reminders of what you're capable of now.

Tell yourself, "I'm a person of today. Right in front of me is an opportunity to make progress and I won't pass it up."

Do not delay until tomorrow what can be done today.

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." — Samuel Johnson

If you look for an objection or reason to delay, there will always be one.

Stop searching for excuses and start looking for opportunities to act.

Resources:

Breaking Barriers: How To Overcome Emotional Eating & Self-Limiting Beliefs

Wanna Help?

If you find the Primal Potential podcast help, it would mean the world to me if you'd take a minute to leave a rating & review! That helps show platforms display my podcast to new listeners! Thank you so much for your support! I can't tell you how valuable it is!

248: Are Evenings Hard? Oct 25, 2016

Show notes

The other day I asked my Fat Loss Fast Track veterans (folks who have been through more than one Fat Loss Fast Track with me) where they feel strong in their fat loss journey and where they don't feel so strong.

One of the most common areas of struggle was evenings. Nighttime choices. The choices made after work and during/after dinner. I don't think they're alone in that struggle.

Are evenings hard for you? They used to be my biggest area of struggle, for many reasons, and today we're talking about how to improve your evening eating habits and get to a point where you feel confident in and proud of your nighttime choices.

http://primalpotential.com/248-improve-evening-eating-habits/

How To Improve Evening Eating Habits

There are many reasons for the evening struggle. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on what's wrong with the evenings instead of focusing on how we can make improvements.

Think about it, it makes sense that evenings are hard.

We tend to be more tired in the evening and have more energy in the morning
There's more downtime in the evening. Most snacking happens during down time & screen time and there's less of it in the morning
We're great at "beginning" - we've started countless diets and beginnings start in the morning, for most of us, so we are just more practiced at improving our first choices of the day than we are improving our last choices of the day. We aren't unskilled, we're unpracticed.
We tend to have less structure in the evenings than we do in the AM
We haven't built up trust and follow through

But we have power. We have opportunity. In today's episode I'm sharing several strategies that will show you how to improve evening eating habits, build confidence, accelerate your progress and get results. Definitely listen to the whole episode! Lots of great strategies in there, including:

Change your attitude - stop arguing for your limitations and focusing on how hard nights are. Instead, focus on what you can do to make improvements today
Practice building back trust in small & large ways (this can be practiced throughout the day by doing what you say you'll do instead of negotiating with yourself)
Focus on improvements - instead of being a Debbie Downer and judging yourself for suboptimal choices, look for the improvement. Choose what represents even a marginal improvement for you
Finish strong. No matter what happens, decide that you'll finish each day strong, even if it's the last 10 minutes of the day

Resources:

Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

NEW Thoughts On All Or Nothing Oct 25, 2016

Show notes

Totally random episode here! So random it doesn't even get a number or official show notes! Take a listen to this short episode I recorded while pacing in my living room with my new thoughts on all or nothing thinking and what yoga taught me about the on/off approach to nutrition & fitness.

247: Eyes On Your Own Work Oct 22, 2016

Show notes

I'm sure you've heard that comparison is the thief of joy yet most of us manufacture insecurity & shame by comparing ourselves to others.

In today's episode we're talking about why it's so important to keep your eyes on your own work but also HOW to do it. It seems like we almost automatically compare ourselves to others.

Plus, when we stop comparing and pay attention to ourselves, we are often confronted by negative thinking & judgement.

http://primalpotential.com/eyes-on-your-own-work/

Eyes On Your Own Work (And How To Stop Comparing)

In today's episode, I explain the dangers of comparing yourself to other people. Frankly, they have NOTHING to do with you and your journey.

See, when we focus our attention on other people, we can't be focused on ourselves and the opportunities in front of us to grow, improve and take action.

The only journey that matters is your journey. Any time or energy spent on someone else's journey is time wasted.

One of the reasons we focus on others is because we aren't comfortable focusing on ourselves.

When we focus on ourselves and our journey, we often face negativity, shame and judgement.

It feels far more comfortable to judge others than to judge ourselves and face our own challenges.

First, it's dangerous to look away from your own journey.

Second, if you change your attitude about yourself & your journey, you will dramatically change your trajectory.

You must keep your eyes on your own work and you must improve your perspective about your journey.

Don't miss today's episode for HOW to change your perspective on your journey.

Resources:

I get lots of questions about the coconut butter I eat & where to get it. Here's the brand I buy.

The first 3 episodes reflecting on lessons learned about life & fat loss through yoga can be found here, here and here.

Wanna Help?

246: 5 Dietary Changes For Faster Results Oct 20, 2016

Show notes

If you feel stuck, frustrated, confused or like you aren't seeing the progress you want, don't miss these 5 dietary changes for faster results.

The key to today's episode lies in not seeking new information but in measuring your own consistent implementation of what you already know but aren't yet doing.

http://primalpotential.com/246-5-dietary-changes-for-faster-results/

5 Dietary Changes For Faster Results

Often, we sift through information evaluating what we know instead of what we're consistently doing.

If we know something already, we gloss over it, whether we're consistently doing it or not.

Today that stops. As you listen to these 5 dietary changes for faster results, I don't want you thinking of what you know or what you don't, I want you evaluating what you're doing consistently and what you're not.

As you hear each strategy, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I doing this?
Am I doing it consistently?
Is there room for improvement?
How will I implement those improvements today?
How can I practice consistency with that improvement?

While there are dozens of dietary changes you could make to accelerate your fat loss progress or improve your body composition, today we're talking about the following:

Stay off the hot mess express blood sugar roller coaster (especially in the morning)
Slow down on the sweets (the more sweet you eat, the more sweet you crave - this is true whether it's a "healthy" sweet or not)
Dial back on dairy (for more on dairy and fat loss, listen to episode 25 and 128)
Limit labels - how much of the food you consume has a nutrition facts label and added ingredients? Do an inventory of the % of your intake that comes from something with a label and strive for an improvement. Eat more foods that have no label and eat fewer foods with labels.
Stop snacking - snacking is often out of boredom/habit or because your meals aren't satisfying you for long enough. Either improve the composition of your meals so they satisfy you for longer (adding more non-starchy veggies, protein or whole-food fats) or increase awareness of when you're eating when not hungry.

Resources

Q&A 6: How To Make Breakfast A Fat Burning Meal

Episode 115: More on Breakfast

Fat Loss Friendly Lunches

Fat Loss Friendly Snacks

Episode 007: Carb Timing

Episode 025: Pros & Cons of Dairy

Episode 128: Is Dairy Slowing Your Progress

E-Course: Carb Strategies for Sustainable Fat Loss

Wanna Help?

245: How Successful People Think Oct 18, 2016

Show notes

I don't know about you, but I used to think that people who reached their goals simply had something I didn't have.

They had more motivation.

More self-discipline.

Better genes.

Whatever they had that made them successful, I just didn't have it.

I was wrong. And if you think that way, you are too.

In today's episode, I want to talk about how successful people think. I want to look at how successful people respond to things that might be a real challenge to you - temptation, setbacks, frustrations - so that you can stop letting those things stop you.

Today is about figuring out how to turn your stop signs into starting lines.

http://primalpotential.com/245-how-successful-people-think/

How Successful People Think

There are two ways to approach your choices:

You can blame them on other people and circumstances outside your control (work, time, etc)
You can acknowledge that you are totally in control of every choice you make

How successful people think: No matter what happens around them, they acknowledge that they are in control of what they choose and how they think

Everyone faces temptation. Whether the temptation is to hit the snooze button, skip your workout, grab a biscuit at the drive through or have the second glass of wine, we all have temptations.

When you "zoom in" on the temptation, locking in like a laser beam on whatever tempts you, you're less likely to overcome it.

How successful people think: They "zoom out" when facing temptation. They see that there are two things - what they want most & what they want now. They ask an answer the question, "If I say yes to this, what am I saying no to?"

Everyone encounters setbacks. Things don't go according to plan. You drop the ball. You don't get the results you want.

If you focus on the setback, and you harp on what went wrong and how you've failed, you're bound to feel defeated and far less likely to make progress & overcome it.

How successful people think: They look for the lesson. Instead of settling for the setback, they're seeking a solution. They don't focus on what went wrong but rather they look for the next right move.

Remember that if you aren't getting the results you want, add more effort.

You will get out of life what you put into it.

Wanna Help?

244: How To Overcome Negative Emotion Oct 15, 2016

Show notes

Life can be very hard. Many of deal with far too many negative emotions. We get frustrated, we feel lonely, overwhelmed, angry, sad. We focus on fear of the future and shame around the past.

Instead of helping you improve your responses to negative emotions, today's episode will help you overcome negative emotion. Yup, put it behind you. Let it go.

Because honestly, the ROI (return on investment) of letting go of this negativity is far greater than the ROI of practicing a better reaction to it.

If you found this episode helpful, I think you'll really enjoy my self-guided e-course, Breaking Barriers, which is all about overcoming emotional eating, negativity & self-limiting beliefs.

http://primalpotential.com/244-overcome-negative-emotion/

243: Metabolism 101 - Why You Aren't Losing Weight Oct 13, 2016

Show notes

Let's get back to the basics of metabolism to help you figure out why you aren't losing weight and what you can do about it!

I recently shared with you guys that episode 240 was one of my favorites - we were talking about how your body allows or disallows fat burning and what you can do to control this cellular & hormonal signaling.

Understanding these concepts is really the key to figuring out why you aren't losing weight or why you're always hungry or why you can't get your cravings under control. After that episode, some of you shared that it went a little over your head.

Since this is your show, that's not okay with me! I want every episode to be FOR YOU so we're breaking it down today to ensure that everyone understands these important basics of why you gain weight, why you aren't losing weight and what you can do about it.

http://primalpotential.com/243-metabolism-101-why-you-arent-losing-weight/

Metabolism 101 - Why You Aren't Losing Weight

If you want the detailed science & technical explanations, I've linked to a bunch of those episodes below in the Resources section. Or, you can check out my comprehensive course on Carbohydrate Strategies for Sustainable Fat Loss.

But for today's episode, I want to simplify, perhaps even over-simplify, the process that takes place when we eat and how it addresses why you aren't losing weight.

Just because you don't get immediate feedback when you eat, that doesn't mean the food you eat has no impact.

Just because your jeans aren't tighter immediately after eating cookies or looser immediately after eating a salad doesn't mean the choice had no impact on your rate of fat storage or fat burning.

In fact, I would argue that both choices impact fat burning & fat storage, you just don't immediately see or feel the impact.

Every time you eat, a conversation begins inside your body.

The fuel you consume each time you eat triggers hormones & enzymes to spring into action and consider what should be done with the fuel, if it should be burned, if it should be stored and where it should be stored.

The answers depend on what you ate, how much you ate, if you needed to eat and what you've eaten in the recent past.

In order to respond to & process the fuel you've consumed, your body begins by breaking it down into it's simplest parts. Without first breaking it down, it would be too large to travel through the body.

Only in it's smallest parts can it get into and out of cells to be stored or used as fuel.

In the case of carbohydrates (whether they are from bread, pasta, oats, cookies, crackers, potatoes or fruit), the simplest parts are small, singular sugars.

The conversation in the body changes when the simple sugars hit the blood stream.

Your body must respond immediately because sugar hanging out in the blood stream for too long can be toxic.

Your body sends out signals "blood sugar has risen beyond a stable level! All available personnel come help clear it out"

Metabolizing sugar takes priority because it is toxic.

The primary responder to this blood sugar situation is the hormone insulin.

You see, sugar isn't allowed to roam freely through the body. It requires a chaperone.

The chaperone charged with ushering sugar out of the blood to be burned or stored is insulin.

Insulin is a storage hormone. Insulin begins a conversation with the body which goes like this:

"Please stop all fuel breakdown activities, including fat burning. We have a fuel excess situation and while I'm dealing with the excess, do not break down any more fuel. We are now in storage mode."

This signaling from insulin stops fat burning and initiates storage mode.

But that's not the only signal from insulin.

As I explained in more technical terms in episode 240, when insulin is chronically elevated and running the show due to overeating or consuming too many sugars & starches, it siphons off too much fuel and shuttles it to the fat tissue.

Insulin is preferential to fat storage versus muscle storage
Insulin diverts fuel to the fat tissue and decreases delivery to the muscle tissue
Insulin slows fat burning
Insulin triggers the creation of new fat cells so there are ample storage sites available

In today's episode I talk about simple changes we can make to help control insulin and spend more time in fat burning mode and less time in fat storing mode. Make sure to listen to the full episode!

Resources

Carb Strategies for Sustainable Fat Loss - Course

Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes

Carb Timing for Fat Loss

Carb Spillover (And How To Stop It)

Carb Tolerance

Understanding Insulin

Golden Rules of Carbs & Fat Loss

Wanna Help?