Health Coach | Speaker | Writer | Welcome to my digital diary! I'm here to help you blend life & fitness to find your health & happy! Thank you for being part of my family & allowing me to add value to your journey!
I personally do not digest plants, gluten, fiber, nuts & seeds, lectins, or oxalates well. Figured this out thru trial & error & 3 decades of living with gut issues.
You can catch the details of my story & whole first year one the Carnivore diet here in this interview.
The research points to YES according to Dr. Mark Hyman. Gluten has been found to negatively impact the lining of the gut, creating “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability, even in those who do not have celiac disease. The lining of the gut is supposed to be strong & tight, keeping food, waste, & microbes inside the digestive tract. Gluten can cause the release of an inflammatory protein called zonulin, which opens up the junctions in the lining of the gut & causes gaps, allowing particles to leak into the bloodstream (where they don’t belong) & creating an immune response. This sets the stage for systemic inflammation. To summarize world renowned gut specialist, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, animal foods are the foods that FEED the human body & SUSTAIN the physical structure of the temple you live in. Because only animal foods can provide the right quality protein & fats to build your physical structure. Our human digestive system is perfectly designed to digest & absorb animal foods.
Tap photo for cheat sheets on recipe for #meatbars
These are basic physiological facts.
Plants are indigestible for human beings. In order to digest plants mother nature created ruminant animals. They are equipped to digest plants, like cows, they have 4 stomachs with specific microbes. You have to have the right kind of microbes to digest plants & fiber efficiently.
We don’t have a rumen like cattle. We have 1 stomach that releases hydrochloric acid, which creates a hostile environment for many microbes, which is why the stomach is the least populated area of the digestive system. This acid & digestive enzymes are specifically equipped to break down meats, fish, dairy, eggs.
Plants do not digest to a large degree, they are than passed through the rest of our digestive system. We digest a small amt of water, things like vitamin K, vitamin C & some phytonutrients
Our body — muscle & fat & organs, are structurally almost identical to animal based products. Only animal foods provide the optimal protein to build YOU efficiently.
The more they study plant proteins, gluten is the most common, the more researchers find it is unsuitable for the human body & damages everyone in some way.
Light bulb moments right?
And fiber? Which is what all my doctors told me to add back in along with fruits & veggies when I was experiencing chronic constipation & slow transit digestion are all like sandpaper on my insides.
Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water. It’s abrasive to the gi tract & damages the epithelial cells. Bacteria ferment fiber, creating gases like carbon dioxide, hydrogen, & methane.
Now do you understand why you’re getting gas pain in building when you keep adding fiber & more plants to your diet?!
A Journal of Gastroenterology study showed stopping or reducing dietary fiber intake reduced constipation & its associated symptoms. Showed complete resolution of constipation, bloating, & painful bowel movements within the study group on a zero fiber diet.
Now do you understand why I stick to meat & eggs & my digestive symptoms & constipation are completely gone since going meat-based?!
You just need to eat food you digest & absorb properly. All of us will be different but biologically most of us will do better on an animal-based diet.
Choose food that doesn’t cause any digestive distress or emotional issues triggering self sabotaging habits.
Hands-down for this cattle farmer’s daughter👉that’s meat for me.
This is me this morning getting in my workout!
I feel great, I love the way I look, I feel strong, & I’m never hungry. I 💯 support our farmers & give gratitude to Mother Earth & all creatures giving their life so we can thrive❤️🦾
It was like I was jumping into my car to go somewhere without the keys…
The number one block preventing me from transformation was my BRAIN.
Like 90% of all transformation comes from awareness & resilience. I didn’t know that when I started.
When you are at your lowest point, that is your greatest door to change. A big friggin door that smacks you in the face!
I remember the morning after I wrecked my truck. I fell asleep at the wheel. Tired, going through a divorce at the time, living with my parents, had been drinking that day.
My mom looked at me as I walked into the kitchen & I told her what had happened. I said, “Mom I have a problem.”
She replied, “Yeah I saw your problem sittin in the driveway. Congratulations, you’ve hit rock bottom. There’s only one way left to go & that’s UP from here!”
Trying to navigate my way through life, more specifically my weight loss & health journey, I thought my success & happiness would come when I found the perfect diet. I thought if I could just find an easy way to restrict food, lose fat fast, & shrink to the smallest version of myself my problems would be solved.
It wasn’t all my food, most of my problems stemmed from my thoughts & the story I kept telling myself.
Your brain is the control center for all activities in your body, mind, & reality you live. It regulates your breathing, heartbeat, emotions, thoughts, words, conversations you hold internally & externally, & many more vital processes.
Yet, most of us think success comes from singular things like diets, workouts, having just the right job or relationship, when we’re harming our brains every single day. And most of the time, we’re not even aware of it.
I started noticing positive changes & ease of life when I set new intentions & habits like spending more time outside, listening to my gut, doing things that brought me joy like coloring & walking, light therapy, gratitude, morning movement, less time on my phone, using blue blocking glasses, not drinking tap water, moving more throughout the day, removing toxic people/things/habits/social media & cultivating an up leveling environment. All products, codes, & links are in the link in my Instagram bio.
I wanna share these with you so you can learn them quicker than I did.
The 4 habits crippling your brain & blocking success!
SLEEP
Y’all this a biggie! Most of us don’t get enough & realize the impact quality sleep has on our overall health & energy. It affects EVERYTHING from our mood, energy, performance, fat loss, muscle gain, body function, ability to give sh*ts about the truly important things we should give sh*ts about.
When was the last time you didn’t sleep well but felt great & performed at your best? Never. I’ll answer that for you.
The consequences of sleep deprivation can be fatal & range from dementia, brain cell loss, early memory loss, or even Alzheimer’s. These effects slow down your thinking, impair your memory, & hinder learning. Research even shows that sleep deprivation might shrink your brain. When you sleep, your brain gets a chance to recover & process what you’ve learned & experience throughout the day.
THE FIX
Most people need 7-8 hours of sleep to feel & perform their best. However, it’s also important to consider the QUALITY of your sleep. Set regular bedtimes, wear blue blocking glasses after sunrise & light therapy in the mornings. I use Swanwick glasses. Put down the electronics an hour before bed, create a dark, cool environment by turning the heat down & getting black out curtains, reduce caffeine intake to mornings only & under 300mg/day, take a natural melatonin & or magnesium supplement before bed. Helpful supplements I’ve used are Natural Vitality Calmful Sleep, Relax Liposomal from Nuethix Formulations, & Zzzyquil. On Amazon Favorites List here
2. DOING “NOTHING” One of the most underrated ways you might be harming your brain is by NOT USING IT. Your brain is like a muscle & like they say, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” We are designed to move & create & think. Challenging thoughts, new skills, different hobbies, interesting & meaningful conversations, reading, podcasts, nurturing social media, YouTubes, new experiences, puzzles, games, coloring, cross stitching, painting, & crosswords can help stimulate your brain & develop neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to adapt. Like any muscle, your brain needs to be used and flexed to stay in shape.
THE FIX Research proves that brain exercises have a positive effect on our cognitive abilities. So, what are you waiting for? Ask yourself what you could do today or this week to learn something new & train your brain. Start with choosing something that brings you Joy! I enjoy coloring, writing, learning, exploring new places I’ve never been & talking to new people!
3. NOT MOVING
I’ll say it again, we were made to MOVE. Living a sedentary lifestyle can have dangerous effects on our mental & physical health. An inactive lifestyle comes at high costs, such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, loss of strength, & even dementia.
A study found that a sedentary lifestyle also has negative effects on our brains. For example, it negatively influences our memory. There’s nothing wrong with chillin on the couch & taking a time out, we need that balance too. However, the problem is that millions of people, especially those working from home or with desk jobs are victims of a sedentary lifestyle (because you choose to be). 10k steps per day, make that a goal.
THE FIX Beating a sedentary lifestyle is mostly about incorporating daily activity into your life that you enjoy & becomes a success habit. It’s not about exercising hours a day but being intentional to make movement a vital part of your day.
Teach yourself to be a morning person, get your workout or some kind of movement done first thing. The most successful people make this a part of their morning routines. Take short walk breaks every 20-30 minutes, walk after meals, park further away, take the stairs, wind down with a short walk at night, do yoga, stretch, run, do group classes, walk around your house & lift dumbbells during commercials – just do something! I walk around our ER & around my CT machine in between patients, I walk after meals & work out in the morning. I also have a pair of extra 10 & 3lb weights & a resistance band I keep in my radiology suite for a quick circuit during down time.
4. NIX THE SUGAR
According to Fernando Gomes Pinilla, professor of neurosurgery at UCLA, what you eat affects how you think. 100% agree! If you’re like me, I’m one that has suffered with gut issues & food addiction. Never had a great relationship with carbs or sugar, nor could I digest them well.
Research also proves that a high-sugar diet slows down our brains as well as interferes with memory & learning. What do we tend to crave in times of stress or boredom? Typically highly caloric foods chocked full of sugar, carbs, & fat. When we get overwhelmed & stressed, these cortisol spikes make us feel the need for more energy & the easiest way to get that instant hit is through sugar. And that’s exactly what most junk food delivers: minimal nutrients, low quality oils, additives, sugar, & salt. The problem is that we are overfed & undernourished as a whole because of readily available “junk” food. Malnutrition doesn’t only harm your waistline but also affects brain function & development. Our brains make up 2% of our body weight, but they use 20% of the resources. That’s why the food you consume has such a huge effect on your thinking & behavior.
THE FIX
Cut out the crap. Protein & healthy fats should make us the majority of your meals. Choose foods you love & ones that do not trigger negative physical or mental problems like gut issues, mood swings, & disordered eating habits like binging & emotional eating.
Make sure you’re eating enough, We should be eating out true maintenance calories the majority of the year. You can use the TDEEcalculator.net to find yours & it’ll give you a suggested group of macros. I like my protein set around 1g/lb of body weight or goal weight if you have more to lose. I’ve personally even gone up to 1.5g/lb of body weight & for smaller individuals like myself doing a more meat-based, low carb lifestyle.
My meal 2 at work today! #meatbars 😉 Airfry. 380, 12 minutes thru preheat cycle. Surf & Turf! Air fried shrimp, 80% ground beef, & 93% Perdue ground chicken! Cleaning out the fridge. I bring an airfryer to work with me. Have an instant vortex 6 qt. on Amazon fav list. These also re heat well. Info all over my IG, scroll thru, check highlights & link in IG bio!
Invest in a coach or practitioner or qualified individual to help you! My Coaching FAQ’s are in the link in my Instagram bio & here!
AS always, to my humans out there just tryna be better! oxox Coach K
Feeling pretty & PRETTY STRONG this mornin. Shamelessly admiring my arms in the freakin awesome lighting🦾 @hotworx.fishers
Your homework is to take time to simply love on yourself today, too. You’re magnificent!
Photo dump on IG of my morning success habits which includes me writing to y’all (& myself) every single day.
Workout at HotWorx Fishers. Loving the new Blast workout!
Post workout breakfast. 1.25 lbs of 80% ground beef #meatbars Airfry. 380. 12 minutes. Did not consume the fat in the bottom of the airfyer to make it leaner. Recipe is on my IG, link in bio & in highlights. I bring an Airfryer to work . Instant Vortex 6qt.
Happy light! I use this portable light everyday for 30 minutes. On Amazon Favorites List on IG. Link in IG Bio.
I had a great workout & sweat sesh while learning & listening to @iamsahararose & @itskrista talk about The Law of One. Well done sisters👏🏼 this was mind-blowing 🤯 & remarkably expansive!
Sparked what I felt nudged to channel & share with you guys:
Uncomfortable truths I wished I had realized & accepted earlier in life …
Here goes…
Happiness is the byproduct of living your purpose. Happiness doesn’t make you happy, having purpose makes you happy. Once you become at peace with your purpose, your life & your body will fall in line. You won’t feel the need to numb & self sabotage with emotional eating, gluttony, self-loathing, overspending, sleeping around, excessive drinking – pick your poison.
Talking with clients & reflecting on my own journey, the reason we self sabotage is because we’re trying to find love & stimuli outside of ourselves & feel we have no purpose, no significance.
It’s like eating when you’re bored. It’s like the elderly & their partner dies or they’re put in a nursing home or you take their keys away, they often expire shortly after. It’s like taking away their purpose.
Gut check moment, right?!
Learn to redirect your mind & you then learn how to redirect your life. It’s your choice.
We all have definitions of heaven & hell. We are all deliciously unique individuals. Just let people BE. Loving someone in the hopes that they will change is not truly loving someone. Truly loving someone is giving them the free will to live as they choose. This includes learning to lovingly release & let people go. Remember everything happens for you not to you. Stop trying to cram a round peg into a square hole.
Not everyone wants to be in the same kind of “relationships.” The definition of a relationship will be different for us all. We’re all One. One Love. There is no right or wrong way to live your life, it’s all an experience of your choosing.
I personally feel there is no requirement to have to slap labels or legally binding contracts on relationships to make them more significant or lucrative.
What “successful” looks like, what “beautiful” looks like…if they make you happy & fulfill some part of you, let it BE & savor the moments. And if you choose at some time to be exclusive or to change your definition in a different way, let that BE & savor the moment or the season. Stop over complicating shxt.
Have a partner who wants to see you thrive & evolve WITH YOU or no partner at all. Y’all, being around energy vampires who’re trying to keep you small is painful af – AND your decision. One of my best friends, as well as myself, have been in a relationship(s) where the other persons needs & goals were always way more important. You felt all that mattered was that you made it as easy as possible for THEM to move forward & be comfortable. If you achieved success, they were jealous, felt you were overshadowing, it was never as good as theirs, & your goals were ridiculous.
Even though we sometimes can’t choose whether we fall in love or not, we can indeed choose whether we stay with someone. There’s a big difference in being alone & lonely. I will repeat this to my very last breath. If your partner constantly dulls your shine & all you feel is your energy waning & seeking to people please, it’s probably the wrong partner.
A rich relationship should be full of support, nourishing challenge, & encouragement. If someone doesn’t want to see you achieve your dreams, they won’t be there when you hit rock bottom either. Sorry Sis, no, quit bullshxttin yourself. And just because a relationship has lasted “a long time” doesn’t mean it’s working.
Life isn’t “fair” it just “is.” If you expect life to be fair, you’ll be disappointed & never reach your potential. Shxt happens, & sometimes, there’s no reasonable explanation for why things happen or why people do what they do.
Ultimately I do believe we manifest our lives & attract what we get, we attract what we are. So think about that & control what you can control, which is your vibration & reaction to things.
There won’t ever be a better time to start. Most people waste their lifetime procrastinating instead of living their desired life because they think there will be a “better time to start.” You never know how much time you have left, & life is certainly too short to postpone experiences that bring you joy. Making a wrong decision is better than making no decision. It’s like that saying I love SO much, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” 😂
Money is simply energy & it has power. No matter if you like it or not — money matters. Learn to love it. Learn to appreciate it. It isn’t bad. It doesn’t make people bad. The vast majority of the global population spends 40+ hours per week working for money. Most people hate their jobs, but stay because they need to “pay the bills.”
Many of us spend a significant part of our lives working for money, I personally LOVE working, it brings me happiness & a feeling of purpose, but most people deny its importance or they let it define them.
Stop denying the power & importance of money & start learning how to use it to your advantage & give back. Make it work FOR you, stop wasting it on useless things, use things love people, invest only in things that bring you joy & upleveling.
Money isn’t everything, but it certainly brings you freedom, the ability to give back, & makes life a whole helluva lot easier & more fun.
Social media can steal your time, energy, & your soul but it doesn’t have to. I have a love-hate relationship with Social media. The trolls make it unbearable some days, haters gonna hate, hurt people hurt people, etc. etc.
Your voice matters, don’t let other people stifle what you want to share with the world. Be proud of your life & your body. You can decide whether you use social media to make your life better or worse. You have control over what you consume & what you see.
Choose to be a creator, not a consumer of content. I loathe the word influencer, I choose to be an Authority. Sorta sweet, sorta Beth Dutton vibes. 🙅🏼♀️😉 Where my Yellowstone fans at?! 👋
Final thoughts… Life ain’t always easy but it’s always good. It’s a privilege to wake up & be alive. Don’t expect life to be fair, create your own rules. Or do as I do, I don’t do rules I do what feels right.🙃
If you constantly choose comfort & ignorance over courage & awareness, you’ll end up being the puppet of others. If you, however, manage to embrace the following truths, you might be able to design an extraordinarily fulfilling, purpose-driven life earlier than I did.❤️❤️🩹❤️🔥
Did you know even if you’re “low carb” you can still have blood glucose spikes?
Experiences I too encountered starting my carnivore journey 2 years ago & using a continuous glucose monitor from @nutrisenseio
New YouTube video where I show you how to apply a CGM & things I wanted to track with mine to see how my body responses to different food & stimuli. Code: lilbitoffitCGM10 link in bio to CGM info.
Blood sugar imbalances affect our energy, mood, digestion, cognitive function, metabolism, performance, as well as our ability to lose body fat.
How have I tracked my blood sugar?
I’ve used a simple glucometer in the past when I started with testing strips from Amazon & CVS.
What range should my blood sugar be for optimal body fat loss? I like mine in that 75-90 dL range fasting.
Mine tends to run a little bit higher during the day & fasting (usually around 90-100 fasting & around 105ish during the day. It stays steady & doesn’t spike much even after a large meal. I think the highest it spiked after a meat-based meal is 130 & 160 after consuming a few rice cakes one time)
I found what spiked mine the most was a high intensity workout while fasting. Duh. Your body does this to give you the boost of energy it needs to perform. It’s a big stressor. So to all of you who are beating the shxt out of your bodies, working out too much, even if you’re eating low-carb, your blood sugar is still spiking. FYI.
Again, we’re all bio individually different. Our environment, lifestyle, genetics, as well as the food we eat all play a part.
Some things you may be overlooking that can spike your blood glucose!
🔼adrenaline & cortisol (stress hormones) & blood sugar which can cause a release from our liver glycogen even when fasting. This was one thing I tested, luckily black coffee only affected my blood sugar like 2-5 points.
2️⃣Fasting too long
Again, increases body stress which increases your cortisol level which will cause liver glycogen to be released & your blood sugar to rise. Are you waking up in the middle of the night? Is your fasting AM blood sugar high (>95)? Try eating more, shorten fasting windows
3️⃣Dehydration
Less blood volume=higher concentrations of glucose in the blood. Shoot for 1/2 your body weight in Oz of water daily.
4️⃣Carbs
No they’re not the devil. Typically it’s our relationships with them & our habits that are. Carbs do keep us calm by 🔼serotonin & 🔽cortisol. Our tolerances vary bioindividually. Typically in a healthy individual the more active the more carbs we require & tolerate. Carbs do spike your insulin higher than protein or fats. Carbs obviously spiked my blood sugar higher than any other food even experimenting consuming 2lbs of a high-protein meal. 3 rice cakes spiked my insulin to 160. The 2lbs of beef #meatbars spiked my insulin to 130.
5️⃣Over exercising, under eating, &/or eating trigger foods. All huge stressors on the body which increase cortisol & thus blood glucose. That gut brain connection is so impactful on our body function as a whole.
6️⃣Artificial sweeteners & sweet beverages
If it tastes sweet typically it will cause a reaction in your body & spike your blood sugar to some degree. I’m all about moderation but don’t have the majority of your diet full of diet foods & Splenda just to save a few calories & carbs. They lack in micronutrients which your body needs to function properly. In my experience with the CGM, they did elevate my blood glucose slightly but not very much, maybe 5 to 10 points max.
7️⃣Alcohol. I’m just leaving this one there, y’all this is common sense. The higher the calorie, the higher the sugar, the higher the carbs the more it is going to spike your blood glucose. The “worst” options are beer, wine, sugary cocktails like White Russians, margaritas, Mojito‘s, Long Island iced teas, etc. I know it’s heartbreaking right 😂?! Vodka actually dropped my blood glucose when mixed in Diet Coke. Weird but it happens every time & I notice I get cold when this happens. This was not consuming any food with my drink.
8️⃣Sleep
Not only does this disrupt your satiety & hunger hormones like a leptin & Ghrelin which can cause you to crave carbs & feel like a bottomless pit, it also spikes your blood sugar, & your performance, fitness goals & recovery suffer. I found lack of sleep, & high intensity workouts especially fasting were the biggest culprits that spiked my blood sugar & made me feel like trash.
I’ve never been good at asking for help. Not in school, not from friends, not from the doctor, therapy, not from mom & dad, not from anyone really.
Always had that “figure this shxt out for yourself” mindset.
I know now this stemmed from fear of being judged – fear of being wrong, fear of being viewed as weak & stupid & not being able enough to take care of myself.
In my 1st marriage, I was not the breadwinner. I depended on him for numerous things. To put a roof over my head. More expensive items & investments. Paying for vacations & when we went out to eat. And he provided, which I’m grateful. He’s a good man & I wish him the best to this day.
I didn’t have a lot of money. I was in debt. Still a hard worker but could just never get my head above water. I felt like a prisoner & hopeless & weak. I should’ve left years before I did for the both of us to thrive.
This fear of having to rely on someone else grew throughout my following relationships. I was the breadwinner for the majority of them. Fear of commitment & dependency turned me into the stereotypical emotionally & relationally avoidant. You could imagine the pain of having to say I was a “dependent” when I married a US Marine. Omg the sting.
Growing up on a farm you’re raised to be strong, productive, resislient, & self-sufficient. There wasn’t always someone there to help you. You had to learn to figure things out for yourself.
Which I guess is why I do well in radiology, too. We have to think on our feet, outside of the box. We often times work alone, we have to move patients by ourselves, we have to learn to get images & diagnostic exams done for your doctors with as much precision as possible so we can help save peoples lives.
We are the eyes of your physicians. If we don’t do an exam correctly & efficiently, a diagnosis could be missed or misdiagnosed which changes the trajectory of your life. If we inject the wrong contrast or don’t follow proper protocol, we can kill you.
Talk about pressure right?!
We’re not just monkey button pushers.
Xray school just exacerbated my issues with not asking for help. Stubborn. As. Hxll. I hated every moment of Xray school. You feel like you’re under constant scrutiny & criticism. It’s true, survival of the fittest & only the strongest survive
One of my favorite mentors, Dr. Stephen Cabral, sent an email yesterday about this very topic. Him & his team helped me heal from SIBO & a bacterial overgrowth years ago. I learned much from them about proper functional nutrition.
This really hit home for me too… You can apply it to any area of your life.
“If you encounter a forest & you know on the other side are your hopes & dreams, you’d want to get through the woods as fast as you can…
But most of us struggle, forever hacking through the bushes & branches, changing directions, getting lost, & wasting time…
While all along if we had just stopped before making the treacherous journey on our own & found a local guide that had traversed this forest thousands of times, that person could simply show us the paths they’ve cleared over the years.”
I don’t know if I needed to hear this, or someone else out there too, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I know I’m not the only one out there that has been conditioned to believe “figuring it out for yourself” is some badge of honor. Like I used to think not eating & beating the
out of my body was too.
I’ve learned I NEED to ask for help & it’s ok. That’s what we’re here for to help support, learn, & grow together, united.
It doesn’t mean you’re weak, stupid, or incompetent. It means you’re smart because no one knows everything & you should never be the smartest one in the room or you’re in the wrong room.
This is the fastest & most guaranteed path to success. On every level: health, weight, relationships, career, finances, spirituality.
If I can ever help in anyway, I am honored to be your guide. This was way longer than I expected but obviously a message that needed to get out there.
Wish you all the best Monday & start to your week!
This morning I I realized how messed up my relationships were.
I thought about chapters in the past, the struggles in particular. I talked about overcoming struggle yesterday.
(If you haven’t, check that blog out. I needed to hear it myself too. A swift kick in the🍑)
Food, body image, money, & love are all connected. My 29 year old self & sure as sh*t my 19 year old self had NO IDEA.
It all comes down to energetics & the way you FEEL about yourself.
I told y’all my body image issues, eating disorders, & fxckd up relationship with food & myself started at the age of 8.
I never felt pretty or significant. We had “enough” as a hardworking family of 5, growing up on a farm.
But as a child, often material “wealth” outweighs the truly important things like kindness & service.
So if you don’t have certain things or dress like the cool kids, you’re picked on & told that you’re poor & less worthy.
If you’re not skinny like the popular kids you’re told you’re fat & not worthy of love.
This wrecked my relationships with love, food, & money for decades.
As a result I racked up credit card debt to buy things to make myself feel more worthy.
I over ate & under ate to control my body thinking reaching a certain size would make me worthy of love. Exacerbating my poor health, disordered eating, & gut issues.
My romantic relationships we’re like rainbows of confusion, struggle, & continuously feeling lost.
We place value & control on specific things for validation in hopes of making ourselves FEEL a certain way.
Usually the feelings we’re chasing are to be loved, seen, heard, worthy, significant, & included.
We want to be CHOSEN & LOVED.
Over spending
Discounting & under valuing
Emotional eating & Disordered eating
Over exercising
Giving our bodies to people who don’t deserve them
People pleasing & playing small
Excessive drinking & drug use
In American society we tend to value thin bodies, financial wealth, titles, material wealth, “fitting in & following suit.”
Improvement in all of these areas of my life started with changing my mindset, my energetics around my worth, reminding myself money is just energy, thoughts became things & I controlled my reality by my reaction, reminding myself there is so much abundance in this world, I matter simply because I exist & because I have a kind heart & choose a life of service & purpose.
I felt some of you out there may have needed to hear this message this morning & know that you’re not alone.
I may be known as a “nutrition coach” & “Xray tech”, but a reminder there are so many more facets to you than labels, food, money, & body image.
And my doors are open if you need a listening ear who accepts you as perfectly imperfect as you are.
And what you are is incredible simply because you’re YOU.💕
I would say up until, let’s say a few years ago, it’s hard to pin down exactity (I made that word up btw), I feel I lived my life in a constant struggle.
Occasionally I still do, except now, I see the beauty & gift that comes from the grit of the struggle. We wouldn’t understand the contrast or be able to savor the warmth & joy of the good times.
We all struggle with our own demons in some way because we’re human.
The most common messages I receive are “How do I overcome X struggle?” In one short-ISH response, I’m gonna give you the advice I would give my own children if I had any.
Know I’m also writing this not just for y’all who are strugglin, but also to my former self & a reminder to this present woman. Advice I wish I had when I felt worthless, ugly, fat, insignificant, unloved, & like my whole world was collapsing around me & I just couldn’t dig my way out.
When I thought darkness & scarcity & sickness was just “My Story” until I realized it was more about changing my desires & how I felt vs changing my beliefs. There’s a difference. Changing your vibration & feelings will attract what you want much quicker than simply stating a changed belief. Attraction includes the word ACTION.
Going through struggle is not about focusing on the suffering or avoidance of, it’s about embracing overcoming adversity.
So my top 4 tips to those who are constantly on the struggle bus & hot mess express:
1. BEcome MORE When my life kicked me in the face, one thing that always snapped me back to my desired reality: the realization that I had to actually had to BEcome MORE. I had to BE & DO who I want to BEcome.
For me, I struggled with the facade I wasn’t a significant person worth knowing or loving – BECAUSE I hadn’t become a person worth knowing. I let every shadow, bad habit, & sh*tty thought take over my life like a black cloud.
I either made fun of others or hid in shame to cover up my own insecurities. Examples: I laughed at people in that mushy gushy love, thought having money made you “bad” or it was hard to make, I hid in shame, people pleasing, & stifled my potential because I never wanted to be seen as a failure, rejected, & different, mocked “skinny” girls because secretly I wanted to be them.
You are capable of so much more than you think. Your voice matters & you can bring about phenomenal change in this world if you just let go of your fear of what others think of you, of thinking you have to hide behind your fake azz social media, of fitting into society’s boxes, & anything else not serving you.
Choose to BEcome MORE.
2. EXTRAordinary takes being EXTRA. Fxcking own it. Frankly we’re lazy af as a society. We want everything to be easy peasy like taking a pill to get that “toned” physique we all desire. When the only way to truly get it & KEEP IT, is by consistency & creating an internal & external environment to support the person we wish to be.
You know I’m not one to sugar coat, literally & figuratively, if you’re struggling, it’s because you need to DO MORE to BEcome MORE than you’re currently doing. Do more of the good shiz like:
– Smile at people for no good reason. They’re free!
– Give compliments just because they make someone feel loved
– Hold the door open for people, be kind
– Go to the fxcking gym. Eat your beef.
– Get your face out of your phone & acknowledge people in line or the elevator, get off your phone at dinner & actually talk, be present
– Do more of what you love just because it brings you JOY
– Allow yourself to love without expectations & risk being hurt because it’s better to have loved & lost than to never have loved at all
– Be unapologetic about loving yourself above all & realizing you owe no one anything
3. Experience More
I used to be scared sh*tless to think about hopping on a plane, road tripping alone, or striking up a conversation with anyone I didn’t know. It stifled me. Now I LOVE IT! I meet new people & friends everywhere I go.
Being married to a US Marine in one chapter of my life & experiencing the melting pot of the military opened my eyes to a whole new world & I will be forever grateful. It has made me more well-rounded & appreciative of other ethnicities & all backgrounds.
Traveling made me more compassionate, appreciative of how I was raised, & opened my eyes to the world beyond my “perfect” & “safe” small country town USA in McCordsville, Indiana.
Get out of your hometown, pack your suitcase, & roll. Not to escape life, but to give yourself the moment to explore & pause to go find yourself again.
4. Be Content with Enoughness
I felt like a failure the majority of my life because I didn’t “live up to society’s ‘normal’ timeline.” I’ve talked about this before, I thought by 40 I would have been married 18 years, have 2 kids, a white picket fence, & 18 years seniority at the same job since college.
LMFAO.
2 divorces, infertility, thousands of dollars in debt, more jobs than I can count or include on a 1 page resume, & decades of sickness & beating the sh*t outta my body later…
But like I stated before, you don’t appreciate the good times without the bad. I would not be the woman I am today, writing this, helping you, via these experiences without them. Embrace adversity & YOUR OWN TIMELINE. Life happens FOR US not to us.
You are enough simply because you exist. You will always be rich if you’re content with ENOUGH. Our future is not guaranteed, that’s really all we’re guaranteed.
Accumulating money, titles, things, followers, a shrinking number on the scale, abs, certain milestones, whatever you wanna insert here…are pointless quests if you don’t love who you are & where you are right now.
Repeat after me:
“Trust that some of the best days of your life haven’t even happened yet. There are going to be parties that leave you dancing until 6am, spontaneous adventures that teach you more than you ever learned in a classroom. There are going to be nights that will stay burned beneath your eyelids, memories that dance underneath your skin. Life is going to exceed your expectations, it is going to astonish you with its timing.
Ya know I love vacations but I LOVE going home, more. Anyone else like this too?
Back to routine. My home. My gyms. My Pete 🐈⬛. My bed. My people I love.
Gettin ready to head back to Indy tomorrow.
As I did laundry & packed, I let my mind wander. This vacation felt like a huge reflection & reset for me. New beginnings.
A few:
Starting a new job PRN at the VA hospital in Indianapolis soon. PUMPED!
New workout routines & body goals, it’s gainz season y’all 🦾🦿
Purging stagnant & less optimal habits & replacing them with better ones
Purging things I don’t need
Simplifying & optimizing business & life
Being ok letting old friend circles go
Pushing myself to do new things, date, & meet new people
I am actually REALLY excited to enter my 40’s. Something about moving into a new decade makes me feel optimistic & all warm & fuzzy like a deep conversation over an old fashioned or a cup of coffee.
Life really hasn’t turned out as I “expected”
I feel it has turned out better & exactly how it was supposed to.
Kinda like this jumper here. This 5’1, shorty was skeptical about buying it. It was not what I expected – but BETTER. Well done Amazon, well 👏🏼 done 👏🏼 XS fit purrrrfect 😻😆
My younger self thought at 40 I’d have it all figured out, be happily married for decades, picket fence, 2 kids, #merica ….y’all can laugh now.
After 2 divorces I feel like the universe is telling me I make a really good ex-wife 😂 And ya know what? I am. I’m a great ex wife. I love all my exes. I have zero baggage & no hard feelings. I choose to remember the lessons & all the wonderful memories from my relationships.
That thinkin at 40 I’d “have it all figured out thang”…hxll I can’t even fxckin remember where I park my car in the mornings or what day it is half the time.😝
Spiritually I still feel like I’m in my 20s, most days I physically feel BETTER than I did in my 20s.
I say I have a young spirit & a significantly old soul. Dangerous combo.
I look young but inside I’m a baby grandma. Totally ok with it. Some days I can party with the best of them but most days I’m an introvert, don’t ask me to do anything after 8 PM.
It’s like I don’t really know what to do with me? So finally I just said fugg it, I don’t do rules I do what feels right. Especially dating or dressing myself.
I’m at that weird age I really don’t know what’s appropriate, like how to “dress for my age” or “date in my age range”
WTF does that even mean anymore?! 🤔🤷♀️
Someone, if you have the answer please clarify this for me 🙋♀️
I surrendered y’all. I surrendered to the fact that I will continue to get older each year & I don’t have to have expectations at all. Simply just a direction to always be working on bettering myself.
I vow, this year, to settle in & let my 39th year wrap itself around me like a warm & fuzzy Sherpa jacket.
I remind myself that faking happiness & perfection are the quickest way to die on the inside. I remind myself life is what it is & it IS what I make it. Do shxt that makes me happy & brings Joy. Be kind.
Moral of this page from the life of Lilbitoffit:
I’m a 39 yo old woman. I’m flawed & weird af. I don’t love everyone & everything, & there’s plenty of people who do not love me & I could care less.
I am getting wrinkles, sunspots, & I sure as hxll can’t recover from drinking like I used to & way over consume caffeine, but I refuse to give up coffee & making memories with friends & family.
I am still working on loving myself & living a life that makes me proud, fulfilled, & content. And I’m cool with having no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going. It’s never boring 😉
Thank y’all for listening to this “middle-aged”rambling.
Cheers to officially being a “cougar” next year 🐆😸
There are 50 shades of a meat based diet. Some people include small amounts of carbs, some do fat or carb re-feeds, some do not. Don’t be that Ahole that shames other people for including other things & different approaches into their diets because you don’t. We all have different needs/preferences. I see it too much. No need for dogma of any kind, we are here to learn & support one another. Choose what work best for you.
Seems most “higher” protein carnivores are around 40P/60F, 50P/50F, 60P/40F as far a protein/fat macro ratios. Always go your own way, again, we’re all different!
I’m showing you what I’d do for myself as far as macros, not saying you have to follow these, but a visual & calculation breakdown were requested. If you need coaching, fill out an inquiry here & I’ll send details via email.
Your 1st steps in choosing any kind of diet need to be:
1. KNOW YOUR WHY & BE SELF AWARE
2. UNDERSTAND YOUR STORY & FOUNDATIONAL STARTING POINT
3. DEFINE YOUR REALISTIC GOAL
4. SET A PLAN & ORGANIZE YOUR SUCCESS ROUTINE
As far as Carnivore, get adapted & heal FIRST. I wrote a blog from an interview on my experiences the 1st year of my carnivore journey. Please read that interview here (link also in IG bio to blog post) — it will answer the majority of your questions as far as my story, living with Crohn’s as an athlete, adapting, transitions I went through, & my special digestive needs & trigger foods.
I don’t recommend any kind of manipulations with the carnivore diet for fat loss until you are adapted, eating at maintenance, & thriving confidently with this lifestyle.
Fat Loss Tips:
Create a calorie deficit from pulling from your fat macros. Protein should stay consistent (around 1g/lb of body weight or goal weight for most) Tracking will help. It creates awareness & more educated decision making when making adjustments. Protein for most/meal should be around 30g minimum, most do fine around 40-60g/meal if you’re eating 2-3 meals/d.
Choose meats that are easier to track & control like ground meats & eggs. Leaner meat will naturally be lower in calories.
When in a calorie deficit, & this will depend on your degree of calorie deficit, it can be helpful to increase your protein macros to maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible especially if you’re strength training. (YOU SHOULD BE)
If you’re fat cycling for fat loss, try 4-5 lean days/wk, 2-3 higher fat days/wk. Its helpful to have higher calorie (high fat days) on days of higher activity or harder workouts. You can also reserve these for days of social events for easier adherence.
Diet breaks & structured refeeds can be wonderful tools to create adherence, consistency, & decreased hormonal & metabolic stress. I included a graphic on different kinds of periodization.
Intermittent fasting can also be a wonderful tool to allow larger meals for satiety while staying within your allotted calories. Choose eating windows that work for you & your schedule. Do not abuse fasting. Extended fasting is not necessary, most do fine fasting 14-16 hrs overnight. It will bite you in the a$$ by increasing stress on the body if you abuse them. Same for overdoing protein sparing modified fasting (PSMF). PSMF are more applicable to people with significant weight to lose, of higher body fat, & kept only 2-3 days/week. If you cannot control yourself with portions after fasting because you’re SO ravenous, decreases your fasting windows.
If in doubt, WALK. Simply increasing steps & choosing lower intensity activities will be easier on your body yet still help create a calorie deficit by increased activity.
If you’re including carbs in your training & fat loss diet, keep them around workouts. Your largest meal I prefer post workout for recovery & optimization & earlier in the day. Taper meal sizes as the day goes on.
If you’re waking up starving, having sh*tty sleep, peeing all the time, low energy – these are signs you may need higher fat, higher calories, &/or a period of a diet break or refeed. YES, hunger will be part of a fat loss diet, but you also want to optimize hormone & metabolic efficiency as much as you can. That’s what diet breaks & refeeds are for. If you’re body & mind are stressed to the titties as I say, it will not drop body fat easily or optimally.
Sleep is a nonnegotiable, 7-8 hrs/night. If you eat carbs, a little before bed can help decrease your cortisol level. Do not eat late, heavy meals. You won’t sleep well & your digestion will be a dumpster fire. If having loose stool after meals &/or wonky digestion, include some digestive enzymes before or mid meal to help, decrease meal sizes & decrease fat. You will adjust. I use Nuethix Formulations Utilyze, Discount Code: lilbitoffit
1lb ground @perduechicken (yes the brand matters 👋 chicken snob. It tastes best)
2oz cream cheese
1 egg
Dash of salt (I rarely measure 👀)
Pork Rinds for the coating (I prefer Epic brand baked pork rinds but use what you want. I find it takes about 2-3 bags of the small Epic packages & about 3/4-1 bag of the regular sized pork rind bags)
DIRECTIONS
Mix ground chicken, egg, cream cheese, & salt in a large bowl
Crush pork rinds up
Roll chicken into a “meatball” or use a spoon or scooper to scoop & coat the meatball with the crushed pork rinds (warning, it’s sticky af. That’s chicken for ya)
Place meatball or nugget (however you wanna shape your chicken) in the air fryer. Space evenly. Spray your basket if you need to.
Airfry for 10 mins at 400°
Flip your nuggs & cook for another 5-10 minutes at 400°, depending on your desired crispiness or texture. I like mine CRISPYYYY so I do 10.
