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!
Confessions of another dirty bathroom photo… Dis me. I’m awkward af trying to get body photos. I dunno how to properly “pose.”😆 but I’m glad I do. They make me proud of how far I’ve come & what my body & mind are capable. Just a friendly reminder you can do whatever shade of the Carnivore Diet you want (or any other diet for that matter). I feel I’m speaking for the majority of us meat-based folk who love this lifestyle because it works for us. I’m 2 years in. We really don’t care what you eat or what your body looks like as long as you’re happy & healthy. It’s really none of our business what you eat every day, what workouts you do, what your body looks like, if you show your body & journey or not. We just love happy people. Be nice to each other. I feel I needed to reiterate that again. I know some people say we all have the same 24 hours in a day, & literally we do, yet realistically we don’t. I preach being a DOer. Yes, you either DO or you DON’T. But be nice to those who have children or special circumstances which make going to the gym or a certain fitness goals challenging. I’m not giving excuses for “lazy” people but just asking you to be nice. Perfection is never needed, but do remember EFFORT matters no matter what your circumstance & you can still be a person that keeps COMMITMENTS to yourself in whatever way YOU need. As for shades of “carnivore”…some of us eat a little bit of carbs. Some don’t. Some eat organs, some don’t. Some just eat beef, some don’t. Doesn’t matter. I for one can do a little bit of plain rice cakes/white rice as far as starchy carbs. I keep these around my workouts if I’m going to incorporate some. I do that because that’s when my body metabolizes & utilizes them the most efficiently for performance & recovery. I don’t eat them often or every day, I simply eat them when my body is telling me I need them. I also incorporate leaner, lower fat days with higher fat days. This too varies & I also listen to my body & eat accordingly. I’m happy in maintenance. I notice after 2-3 days of eating lower fat, I crave more fat. Because I most likely need more calories, especially after hard training days. My fat macros vary. Protein is around 160-200g most days. I also am very active, CrossFit, & lift weights. So what I do may not work for you. I posted a guide for optimizing eating for workouts yesterday, save tag & share that post. Great resource! This style of eating works very well for me, my needs, & my body is responding well. I’m leaner than I ever have been before, eating 1800-2000+ calories on avg & ~2-2.5lbs of meat/day. Lean days I prefer ground chicken, shrimp, & 90% ground sirloin. High fat days I enjoy 80-85% ground beef & lamb, eggs, & ribeyes. My crispy airfryer #meatbars are LIFE & I eat them every day because I love them. And I’m so happy y’all are loving them too! Tag away! I also haven’t had a Crohn’s flare or binge since I went meat based 2 years ago — the best part! Yes, people look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them I really just eat meat AND I prefer “CrossFit.” People told me I couldn’t do it. My bloodwork, mental clarity, energy level, & physique say otherwise. 😉 Listen to you body’s. I am happy to share my experiences & I fully admit I made a lot of mistakes on the way, I didn’t always feel well, I initially gained 15lbs & I wanted to stop numerous times along my journey. Any diet that serves you best mentally & physically & is high in bioavailable nutrients will always be better than one that lacks the essentials your body needs to function properly. Love y’all Peace love & meat 🥩
No matter what diet you follow, you should know that nutrition has a significant impact in every facet of your life, it is literally what you are made of. It especially has significant impact on your results in the gym. What you eat before, during, & after your workouts may be the difference between achieving your goals & falling short.
#meatbars for the win!
I want to keep this as basic af, easy to understand & apply as possible for y’all, no matter if you follow a meat-based (or “carnivore”) diet or a more traditional approach including carbs. I will share my experiences & tips especially for those of you who have struggled with special digestive needs like autoimmune, IBS, IBD, & Crohn’s like myself. A lot of word vomit here, I tried to include as much as I could.
Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to the “right” way to eat, workout, or live. You choose what works best for you. 🙂 This is a non-dogmatic safe space.
In general, by eating a healthy, well-considered meal 1-2 hours before exercise, & another healthy, well-considered meal within 1-2 hours after exercise, most people can meet their workout nutrition needs without anything fancy stuff. In other words:
If you’re a healthy person who exercises regularly, you probably don’t need special workout nutrition strategies. Most of us fall into this category & that’s where I will keep this focused.
Important stuff:
TOTAL DAILY INTAKE
Your calories & energy balance. The big rocks. Without adequate calories, you won’t perform or feel your best. Fats & carbs are your energy sources, not proteins.
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MACRONUTRIENTS
Carbs (if you eat them) the more you train or the harder you train – the more carbs you will likely tolerate. Fats are the other lever for us fat fueled folk. Protein stays pretty consistent.
ELECTROLYTES & HYDRATION
Ever been dehydrated or electrolytes lacking? If you have, then you know your energy, sleep, recovery, & training were trash 🚯. These are crucial for keeping your CNS healthy, muscles hydrated, & your body functioning optimally.
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FOOD COMPOSITION
You are what you digest & absorb. You also are your habits. Eat food that is nourishing to your body & mind. Avoid foods that are hard to digest, cause physical problems, & emotional issues like binging & emotional eating. If you don’t absorb nutrients, you won’t utilize those nutrients efficiently.
MEAL TIMING
Efficient digestion, absorption, & nutrient utilization are keys here. Meal timing won’t change things drastically until you master the basics first. Like sleep, eating enough food & the right food for you!
Swipey swipe away!
Tap photo for IG post!
Special timing considerations:
You work out early af in the morning: you can do these fasted if you prefer & eat a well sized meal with plenty of protein after. If you’re hungry in the am, liquids (shakes) & easy to digest, low volume carbs (like cereal or rice cakes), if you eat carbs, are more appropriate. I find people who follow a meat-based diet & workout early in the mornings prefer to fast & then eat their largest meal post workout.
CARBOHYDRATES
There are few things in the fitness world more controversial than carbs. Will they make you fat? Do you need them? Timing? The questions are endless. Quality fuel is critical, which we get from carbs & fats. They are our energy sources, not protein. You pick which one you prefer.
Carbs in general are your body’s preferred fuel source when it comes to highly glycolytic (means it burns a sh*t ton of carbs) activities like HIIT, the “crossfits,” & Orange Theory-esque type workouts.
Optimal timing & portions are more important. You want every gram of carb you consume to be utilized as an immediate fuel source or to restore glycogen levels – you don’t want it to be stored as fat. I find them consumed around your workouts most optimal. Just remember the more active one is, the more carbs they can typically warrant consuming.
PROTEIN
Protein is essential for tissue growth & repair. Since the body is continuously breaking down proteins, our diet must provide sufficient quantities. Although recommended intakes vary & depend on so many different things like dieting/health history, activity, training modality, goals, digestion, allergies, etc, a post workout shake is almost always universally helpful to kickstart muscle repair, recovery, & growth.
Shakes are convenient around workouts for high digestibility & absorption, but not necessary if you time your meals accordingly to your needs & preferences. I prefer real, whole foods for my nutrition vs supplements. To cover your bases most people do well consuming meals around 30-50g of protein per meal to meet optimal amino acid needs. Timing will differ based upon diet preference, workout timing, workout modality, & specific goals.
FAT
The body uses fat as a fuel source, & fat is the major storage form of energy in the body. Fat also has many other important functions in the body, & is needed in the diet for optimal health. Fats (cholesterol) are also the precursors to our hormones.
Fats in food come in several forms, including saturated, monounsaturated, & polyunsaturated. Quantity & quality are important. Fats do help to slow digestion, which maintains stable blood glucose & insulin levels. Fats also provide vitamins & minerals, aid in absorption & are important in everyone’s diet.
Some examples of foods that contain fats are butter, oils, nuts & seeds, meat, fish, & dairy products. Again, people will have different preferences as to whether they get their energy from carbs or fats. Most meat-based people prefer fats as fuel or they only consume a strategic amount of carbs around workouts only.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION TIPS
Athletes may have special needs, for example:
An endurance athlete: You train for high level competition. You log a lot of high intensity miles each week. For you, carbohydrate & calorie needs are likely higher unless you do not digest them well & prefer fat as fuel. You could add a protein + carbohydrate drink or shake during your long training.
A bodybuilder: You lift weights with muscle growth as your goal. Your protein & calorie needs are likely higher especially in a building phase.
Getting ready for a fitness competition: You likely accumulate more exercise hours. Goal is to drop to a low body fat %. For you, carb intake (if you eat carbs) will likely be lower & protein higher especially as calories drop to maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible. Keto athletes will manipulate protein & fat macros to their preferences & needs.
Tips for those with special digestive needs like allergies, autoimmune, IBS, IBD, & meat based:
**This is simply to help you optimize from my experience as an athlete & someone who lives with Crohn’s & special needs**
If you’re going to eat carbs, keep them around your workouts for more optimal utilization aesthetically & metabolically. Largest meals I prefer post workout & earlier in the day. Digestion is better in the mornings.
I did best with minimal digestive issues with easy to digest, gluten free, low volume carbs like rice cakes, gf oats, white rice, rice chex cereal if I was going to eat carbs. I don’t need them much anymore since going meat-based. Ground meat & seafood is easier to digest vs steak, ribs, & chewy cuts of meat.
If you workout early af in the am & you’re not training for a performance sport, I find fasted workouts more optimal as far as aesthetics & digestion. Protein shakes are great if you’re hungry early, training long periods, or don’t have time to eat a meal within an hour or so after your workout. Stop fasting until like noon before you eat after an early workout. “Tone” aka MUSCLE takes FOOD. You gotta build the body first!
People reverse dieting do better with 3 meals/day vs 1-2, especially if meat-based. It’s harder on your digestive system to cram more calories in larger, less frequent meals. You MUST set yourself up for a successful cut by eating at maintenance or surplus for an extended period of time (like 6 months to a year realistically) BEFORE dieting for optimal, quicker results. A HEALTHY body loses body fat. You shouldn’t be dieting more than 1-2x/yr for no longer than 12-16wks. Most maintenance levels for active females are around 1800-2100+ calories/d. (I eat 2000/d & am 5’1, 105lbs for ex)
When dieting, I find larger, less frequent meals more satiating utilizing intermittent fasting. Fat cycling leaner, lower fat days with higher fat days is extremely effective & easier to sustain on a diet. Try 4 lean days/wk & adjust as you go for your needs. Higher fat days you should be consuming around maintenance calories. Leaner individuals don’t need as many lean days or need to do the Protein Sparing Modified Fasting (PSMF)
Don’t eat a high fat, heavy meal too close to working out. Digestion takes a lot of energy & you will be tired & sluggish. Eat 2+ hrs prior.
Stay hydrated! 1/2 your body weight in oz, more if you sweat a lot & workout frequently. I use Ultima Replenisher electrolytes. If you’re low carb, you require more electrolytes. If you’re having muscle cramps & sh*tty recovery, up your electrolytes. All my product/supp info/discount codes in LINK IN IG BIO!
If you’re having trouble sleeping, peeing a lot, hungry all the time, & tired, check your macros. You may need to decrease protein & up your fat. This is why I suggest at least loosely tracking your food! I find 180-200g of protein on the top end for females. 140g protein is an avg for most active females lifting weights. Most people who are hungry all time need more fat & calories.
Maintenance macros: start with a 1:1 ratio of protein:fat as a baseline then tweak as needed. Use the TDEEcalculator.net to find your calorie needs 1st.
If you’re losing hair, tired all the time, gut messed up, hormones wonky, craving carbs/salt, waking up at night starving, sh*tty sleep & recovery, plateaus in the gym or fat loss – you’re most likely NOT EATING ENOUGH, not sleeping enough, fasting too much, over caffeinating, & stressed to the titties -STOP 🙂
Going to take a different spin to answering y’alls questions today and I feel no matter what you are wanting to change or bring into your life this is how you’ll get it.
This really has nothing to do with a specific diet, macros, or workouts, BUT everything in your life stems from healing & cultivating a better relationship with just 2 things: knowing your worth & you’re enough & putting action behind it.
You see you can go to the best doctors or hire all the best practitioners & coaches in the world but if you don’t believe in yourself, that you are worthy of whatever you’re seeking or wanting to heal, you’ll never get it.
We go to coaches & doctors for the “answers,” often seeking more numbing mechanisms to cover up the underlying issue which is us not believing in ourselves. We numb with excess food, shopping, alcohol, giving our bodies to people who don’t deserve them, etc. So I can sit here & give you all the specific diets, macros, & workouts, but they don’t fxcking matter if you don’t believe in yourself & that you’re worthy of these things. That means being able to apply the information as well, & if you’re paralyzed by your beliefs, the application won’t happen either.
For example, chasing beauty, love & success, even if you attain these things, they won’t bring you happiness & love unless you love yourself. Look at Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Robin Williams, Heath ledger… just had this conversation with one of my best friends the other day while watching A Knight’s Tale with Heath Ledger. These people were so immensely talented & yet they took their own lives because they didn’t love themselves.
Ladies, some of the most beautiful models in the world, the most successful people in the world get left in relationships, are lonely, & are not happy because they don’t love themselves. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder and the beholder is you.
When traumatic experiences happen to you, like maybe you were left as a child, or someone left you in a relationship, if you start to believe you’re not enough, & these things pile up on top of you, & you don’t learn to unpack your bag — they will suffocate you & take over your life.
“Bad” shxt happens, but if you seek changing your personality, or chasing a body aesthetic to attain “happiness” you will forever be unfulfilled, you’re not really treating & healing the underlying issue which is you believe you’re not enough. I did this, I did this for decades & chased a smaller body thinking it would make me happier — it did not. It may temporarily give you that “high” but you won’t stay there. You won’t stay there until you become the person you want to be & cultivate those success habits & commitments to stay the person you desire to be.
So take all these talented amazing people like the actors, actresses, models – all these successful people we think have everything, but do they? It’s easy to hide behind & be fooled by filters, editors, & facades.
Take us as young girls or boys, we often times chase after boys & girls, we try to change ourselves, we try to please our parents, please teachers, please other people & where does it get us?
Love & worth are not to be chased, earned, or worked for – just like food, they are essential for life.
Watch your world change when you start to love yourself. It’s like the “Beauty is not the rent we pay to exist in this world.” We matter just because we exist. I have this on a post it on my mirror.
As children what happens is we have unmet needs. We want to be loved, we want to be safe, we want to be viewed as successful & significant & we encounter disappointment in these areas. We begin to believe that our needs will never be met & we are not enough which transcends into our adult lives.
There is no one thing in this world that can meet your unmet needs other than yourself.
To feel beautiful & loved you don’t need to change your shape or get surgery or whatever you seek to change your appearance, the one thing you need to do is believe you are loved & lovable because that is what you will attract in your life. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself or change something as long as it comes from a place of self loving & not self loathing. Your foundation has to be set on true self love.
People love you & see your significance & appreciate you to the degree that you love & see your significance for yourself.
Think about it, when people say good things about you like, “You’re beautiful, my goodness you are so talented, I just love to hear your voice, etc” — all these good things are warm like a fabulous cup of coffee or that cocktail you love you that warms you from the insides. Exude that energy & other people will see it & you’ll notice better things will come into your life when you vibrate at this high energy. You can choose this feeling right now. Don’t give other people or things that power with which you hold within yourself.
Because when these things leave you, we tend to feel poorly about ourselves. Remember we attract everything that is aligned to our energy. What is meant for you will never miss you & if it’s meant to leave let it go. Release it with a loving heart.
When you learn the art of unattachment, that’s when you start a lifelong romance with your life. One that is fulfilling. One that will give you the body that you want, the feelings that you want, the experiences that you want, & the people that you want, and it all starts with you.- Not a diet, not another person, not the right workouts, or meal plan, or macros.
So how do we do it? You have to learn to nourish your soul like you nourish your body. You have to nourish your mind. Tell yourself what you want to feel & what you want to hear & paint a different picture. Tell yourself you are beautiful & you have a fabulous life & ove being in the sunshine & you have people who love you simply because you are you. Paint that picture & believe it.
Create vision boards. I love Pinterest & save quotes that make me feel alive, loved, understood. I save pictures of the healthy body I want & how I feel. I save pictures of relationships goals & the person I want to be & I want my partner to be. Embody the habits of that person you want to embody & put them in place to get what you want. You have to put action behind the desires, too.
Set your clothes out in the morning to make it easy for yourself to go work out. TImeblock walks in your schedule. Meal prep your food ahead of time so you have good things to eat. Book self care & time to yourself. Unapologetically own your fxcking life & quit letting other people influence your life & live it for you. Don’t let them influence you by putting down a specific diet or things that you love, or telling you you’re weird & you need to change. That’s giving other people power.
The longest relationship you’ll have in your entire life is with you. Kids grow up. Partners leave or they die. Your parents pass. Friends will come and go. But you always will be with yourself until your very last breath.
Believe you are worth it.Because you are. Remember if beauty made you happy every beautiful person would be happy. A bodybuilder knows you have to break down muscle & build it back up & let it recover over & over again to get the body they want — a wounded, broken heart is just the same.
Starting your Carnivore Journey, where to begin? Keep it super simple y’all.
*Realize this journey takes patience, experimentation, & everyone has different needs.
*Should be approached from a health & healing perspective 1st over a fat loss perspective.
*Adaptation times varies. Mine took about 10 months to fully adapt before I saw any fat loss. I gained 15 lbs when I started because I needed to heal & reverse diet 1st.
Your 1st 30 days should focus simply on getting adapted to eating animal based food like meat & eggs & making sure you’re eating at your true maintenance calories. Which is where your body thrives for optimal health & function based upon your activity level.
I suggest tracking on a fitness app like @myfitnesspal just to gain awareness on what you’re consuming as far as daily calories & where your macronutrients naturally fall eating this way.
Trust me, it will make your life a lot easier making appropriate adjustments to suit your goals & needs. You don’t have to track forever this is just a tool to help you figure sh*t out.
Keep meals simple, choose foods that are easier to weigh & measure to get a good handle on how your body responds to different macronutrient ratios & daily calories. Ground meat is the easiest.
What’s my favorite position… CEO. (Ma girl @laurenconrad ) (Ps. I don’t wear many T-shirts but this is one of my favorites I bought last year from @amandaradke It fit this post perfectly 😉) Holy smokes…I found this entry below on my notes page in my phone from 2018. It brought back every painful emotion at that point in my life & it also made me really fxcking proud of myself. I’ll share it openly with you & maybe it can give you the hope you need today or however it resonates…
December 30, 2018 ✍🏼 :
“What’s my favorite position… -CEO, mf’s (Borrowed from ma girl @laurenconrad ) The age old question😆 We’ll keep it PG13. You’ll never be CEO of your life until you own it & start acting like it. Does this mean perfection? – absolutely not, but EFFORT, YES. -You wanna lose weight? Invest a coach, make a plan, act. -You want a better relationship? Put forth the effort to nurture that relationship. Especially the one with yourself. -You want a different career? Get clarity on what sets your soul on fire & seek it. Open yourself up to receive. 2018, I don’t know about chy’all but I don’t know whether to say thank you or🖕🏻you. But you know what, the sweet spot is found in the middle. To say this year was a roller coaster doesn’t do it justice. Highs & lows like the ocean tide. ▪️Rebranded into an amazing new business ▪️Traveled the US & met so many beautiful people & new friends ▪️ Changed jobs for what seems a bagillion times ▪️ Another failed relationship 🤷♀️ ▪️ My health tanked, spent the whole year building a new me from the inside out ▪️ My car was repoed. But I now have payed her off NOW! ❤️🚗 ▪️ Invested in a business coach, learned tough love & more about the bullshxt lies I tell myself ▪️ Aching broken heart 💔 ▪️ Weight & energy up & down & all around ▪️ And then, I found myself again Sounds familiar? We’re all the same. The best part of this year was genuinely making connections with so many beautiful humans all over the world. From the bottom of my heart thank you for blessing my life y’all! Love people. Be unapologetic about who you truly are & openly accepting of others. Your network is truly your net worth. Remember, what they think of you will never cut you a check. And you are far richer & able in so many ways other than money. Cheers ☕️🥂 What did you learn from 2018?” Now think back to 2018 & let that sink in. Are you still feeding yourself bullshxt sandwiches?
If you gained weight doing things to regain your health, you needed to gain that weight.
I’m talking about that reverse dieting, more rest, stopping the excessive working out, stopping the constant restriction & scarcity mentality, eating more fat, for some it may mean eating more carbs, maybe it means you stopped isolating yourself & started living again, etc. You can’t live a full life on a chronically empty tank (mentally, physically, emotionally, & spiritually).
You keep diet & program hopping – basically just “winging” &/or over complicating sh*t.
You don’t stay consistent with anything. You think you always have to do what someone else is doing. You allow yourself to get lost in all the info & lose sense of what YOU really need/like to do. You choose unrealistic goals, quick fixes & extremes. You choose a plan yet never prepare or follow through which leads you to continual self sabotage & poor choices. You refuse to track food & activity, therefore, really have no idea what you’re consuming. What gets tracked gets managed. You don’t need to overcomplicate things like meal prep, simple movement, & the basics. Keep it simple & routine: get 10k steps a day, eat nourishing real food, sleep, manage a positive environment & mindset.
You haven’t dealt with your relationship with food, exercise, & body image.
This a biggie y’all. You have to “diet” & LIVE from the inside out. Your relationship with self/food/exercise, your mindset, the energy you put off – ARE EVERYTHING. Thoughts become things & you attract the energy you put out. It doesn’t matter what diet, macros, training program, coach/trainer/practitioner you hire, they won’t work unless you do. The most important work is the inner work. “You must be willing to do the things today others won’t do, in order to have the things tomorrow others won’t have.” Les Brown
You’ve set unrealistic, unsustainable goals you can’t adhere to.
Are you comparing & constantly trying to look like some else who’s life, background, history, health, preferences, etc are NOTHING like yours? Cliché but true – comparison is the thief of joy and we were meant to live this life with JOY. If you have a poor relationship with carbs & they cause negative mental & physical effects, why are you eating them? If you hate meat, why are you trying keto & carnivore? If you hate weightlifting, why are you trying to look like a bodybuilder? If you hate veggies, why are you vegan? If your life is stressed to the titties, why are you trying to diet?
You haven’t taken enough time to heal, educate yourself on how your body works, or gain self awareness for a successful diet.
I used to be a chronic dieter & eating the wrong foods for my specific needs. My body composition reflected that too. I was skinny fat, inflamed, binge eating, performance & recovery sucked – life basically sucked. Learning about your body & how it works & WHY you need to eat & train a certain way will change your life. You should be eating in maintenance the majority of the year, not diet more than 1-2x/yr no longer than 12-16 wks. Most active females, athletes, & avid exercisers should be consuming around 1800-2100+ calories/d for maintenance. You have to BUILD the body first to reveal the physique you want when you lose the body fat. That takes food, rest, & strength training.
You refuse to give up your weekend warrior ways & get real with food consumption & activity.
Just because you didn’t log your food doesn’t mean you didn’t just down a whole pizza, bag of chips, 6 cocktails, or whatever your poison. Same with your steps & workouts, if you didn’t get it in, that falls on you – no one else. Restricting all week & blowing it every weekend is also biting y’all in the tush. Hit your protein & eat enough calories for your health & goals consistently. Get a fitness tracker & track your steps. They are the biggest impact on calories burned throughout the day. If you have gut issues or special dietary needs, own that too. Stop going out & allowing other people or situations to control what you put in your body. You can totally enjoy being social, you simply need to set & stick with healthy boundaries you set for yourself.
You’ve struggled with disordered eating & can’t “feel” true hunger/satiety cues. Not everyone can intuitively eat if you’ve lost you’re intuition.
This one – HUGE. HUGE reason I cringe when I hear people say “Just eat intuitively” or “Just eat as much meat as you want on Carnivore.” Quantity matters. You should be able to distinguish between true physical hunger & emotional hunger/habits. Some of us have lost this ability because of chronic dieting. Your meals should be large enough to keep you full for 3-4+ hrs, & they should be protein centric. You should not be snacking in between meals. Most of us should be eating 30-50g of Protein/meal. We numb emotions with food, we eat too fast, we eat our kids food, we eat in front of the tv, we wire our brains to think these sabotaging habits are normal. You can choose to change those habits & re-write your story.
You’re ignoring your toxic environment.
What you consume, consumes you and what consumes you, controls your life. Our consumption is not only what we eat & drink but also what we watch, listen to, media we consume & environment. If you want to change, become a better version of yourself, become healthier or more successful, you have to change your behaviors & consumptions. Listen to a podcast, motivational speakers, surround yourself with successful, positive minded people – create yourself a new environment. That might mean to break up friendships or a relationship. For me it means constantly learning/changing in order to become a better version of myself.
You’re simply not disciplined enough. It is what it is – you either do or you don’t.
Like Andy Frisella says, ‘Don’t listen to your b*tch voice.” There’s nothing worse than rolling through life in the passenger’s seat. You wake up, go to work, & drift through each day with no direction or driving force. It’s about keeping commitments to yourself & mental toughness. If dieting & obtaining the physique & level of health you desire was an easy task, everyone would do it & be happy. I don’t know about you, but I would rather be a DOer. Goals don’t mean sh*t unless you ACT. Just like knowledge isn’t power unless there’s application. We were made to be ACTIVE participants in life.
I’ve said it before, your daily habits, everything you consume, & who you surround yourself dictate how your life turns out. I posted this quote on my instagram stories this mornin:
The first few hours of your day are the most important. The first thing I do after waking is give gratitude to the Universe for allowing me to live another day.
I give gratitude to every slice of heaven & cup of joy no matter how small or trivial they may seem. Things like a warm summer morning, my cat Pete happy to see that I’m up, my beloved cup of coffee, the opportunity to workout, health & simply moving my body, a safe place to live, etc. These are privileges not everyone has & we have people fighting for us & giving up their lives so that we may have these privileges & freedom. #America
You can either start your day with junk (negative social media, distracting apps, processed food, negative self talk) or you can start your day with nourishment (reading, gratitude, movement, journaling, brain dumping, positive connection).
Throwback baby! Ahhhhh the lessons we learn. With age comes wisdom.
Which one do you think will set your day up for success?
Today’s world is weird & challenging. It’s not like it was even 2 years ago.
Mark Manson nailed it too, “Cell phones are the new cigarettes.” We are a world of people seeking instant gratification, temporary fulfillment, & always lookin for the next fix.
None of us are immune, but some of us are more self aware.
If you don’t purposely carve time out every day to progress & improve, you will get lost in the black hole of our increasingly “busy” lives.
I love this quote by Professor Harold Hill, “You pile up enough tomorrow’s, & you’ll find you’re left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterday’s.”
My secret, it’s really quite simple: success habits👇🏻
1.) Wake Up
2.) Get in your Game Zone
3.) Move
4.) Eat Right
5.) Get Ready
6.) Find your Inspiration
7.) Visualize your Perfect Day
8.) Do One Thing to Move You Forward
✅ WAKE UP
Guys you have to make sleep a nonnegotiable. (7+ hrs) Sleep is as important as food, water, & exercise. You can google all the benefits. This post & the rest of this blog is absolutely worthless if you don’t make sleep, self care, & recovery a priority.
✅GET IN YOUR GAME ZONE
Gratitude is everything. You must manage your mindset to facilitate clarity & abundance. It’s like your “Luck 🍀Fuel.” I don’t think I need to say it again but I will 😆 👉🏻thoughts become things! Gratitude has been called the mother of all virtues.
But first coffee…and brain dumping 🙂
Pete is always happy to see his momma! Grateful for this littler ornery companion of mine!
✅MOVE
The most successful people in this world exercise in the morning. It also has been found to generate inspiration & clarity, not to mention the physical benefits. You know we all out here wantin to look good naked. We are vain, holistic creatures. Look good, feel good, do good. If you don’t take care of your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer.
I make sure to sleep 6-8 solid hours, yes that requires going to bed super freaking early but my life depends on it. I workout at 5am before my 12hr shifts at work. No excuses. You are either a DOer or a DONTer.
✅EAT RIGHT
Focus on protein & healthy fats as the center of your meals. Whole, natural, nourishing foods over processed. You eat like a trashcan you become the trashcan. Eat ENOUGH food. Food is also a privilege, don’t make chasing a smaller version of yourself you hobby. Your body is a machine, you have to fuel a machine with the right fuel. Food is not a treat, a reward, or something you need to earn – it is literally what you are made of. I don’t know about you but I don’t wanna be full of shxt 🤷♀️😆
Embody the person you want to be. If you want to be a successful, impactful person — present yourself as one. What you wear, what you consume, how you carry yourself — all matter.
“Watch your thoughts, they become words; Watch your words, they become actions; Watch your actions, they become habits; Watch your habits, they become character; Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
✅FIND INSPIRATION
We’re all different, what inspires one may not inspire you.
I read, “Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning.”
Listen to podcasts, read, invest in events, masterminds, & coaches, watch YouTube‘s that make you want to be a better person. Seek people & portals that put you in the zone to perform at your highest.
✅VISUALIZE YOUR PERFECT DAY
You should be writing down your goals & intentions, no matter how small. To do lists & brain dumping are wonderful tools. You should also have a list of your core values which serve as a roadmap for all of your actions & decisions. Mine below.
Achieving your goals are inevitable if you follow a simple system & implement the right habits. Also goes back to thoughts become things. If you visualize and tell yourself everything is going wrong, you’re right.
✅ DO ONE THING TO MOVE FORWARD
I’ve had people say, “Well I’m just not as good as you so I can’t do x.” No, no one is better than the other some are more self-aware & more disciplined. I used to feel shame when people would tell me I was like a machine. I felt like a freak. Then I realized my will power & discipline are unwavering — that’s my superpower. They can be yours too. Will power is like a muscle. If you want it to grow, you have to execute. Do one thing that moves the needle forward every single day, whatever context you choose. It could be a body goal, a career goal, or a relationship goal.
In closing, let me remind you, YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS! 👏🏼
The holy grail of all the fat loss knowledge bombs this girl has in her head for all you carnivores out there!
Tap photo for full post and all the cheat sheets !!
I’ll create more guides for performance/muscle gain, hormone healing, & anything else I can think of later. Stay tuned!
Save it, tag it, share with yo people! That’s how we all learn!
I’ve made plenty of mistakes throughout my journey, this is what I have learned & has worked for me but always remember we are all bioindividually different so experiment & play around – there is no one-size-fits-all in anything in life!
Remember we should be livin at our maintenance calories the majority of the time. We should not be dieting more than 1-2 x/year no longer than 12-16 weeks.
Also, I’m all about cashing in fun tickets & having social cocktails in moderation, but if you are serious about body fat loss goals AND being kind to your hormones, alcohol HAS to be minimized. It elevates estrogen levels, lowers testosterone, slows your metabolism, trashes your recovery, dehydrates you, & gunks up the livers detox pathways.
The body also does not metabolize food well in the presence of alcohol. Alcohol is a toxin & the body’s primary responsibility is getting rid of the toxin, so it metabolizes alcohol first. That means all that extra food (energy) is more apt to be stored as body fat.
So think about that when you’re smashing excess nachos, pizza, burgers, whatever — I don’t care if it’s Carnivore or not. Calories matter when it comes to body fat loss.
I typically choose to either eat or drink I do not do both together, limit to 2-3 basic af drinks. I order a diet Coke & 1 shot of vodka. I moderate the liquor that goes into my drinks & mix it myself. Eat an hour or two before I go out.
Feel free to leave advice for your fellow dieter & I’d be glad to answer questions on the gram!
During therapy, she said, “I don’t feel you really have social anxiety & neither do you, I feel, & as self-aware as you are, you feel, you’re surrounded by the wrong people & always seeking truth. Why stay in circles you’ve grown out of? You already know the truth you’re seeking.”
Fxck me. She right. Does this every time.🙄🤔🤦🏼♀️😄
I keep it real with y’all. I don’t just post health & “fitnessey” stuff. Yes, y’all need to learn that content too, but the meat 🥩 (lol always makes me giggle 😆) of what you need work on is self healing, self love, self awareness, & bluntly put – owning your shxt.
🔆The biggest pillars my clients & I work on.
That’s truly how you get what you want – the abundance, love, happiness, body we all dream of.
So, let me share some of my real life lessons that may just help you…
💡 The entire time you may think it’s you but what it really is is the people & environment you surround yourself is toxic & misaligned. Be choosy who you let in your circle.
💡 I will never go thru another stage of life depending on someone to take care of me, validate my worth, have to tell a man/friend/etc – how to treat me.
💡 I do not need to explain my beliefs, definitions, & choices on diet, relationships, religion, politics, or what I choose to do with my body.
💡 Never be embarrassed or ashamed of your current situation. Most people in this world are covering up the same situations with filters & fake smiles.
💡 Choose people who understand, don’t judge, & lovingly allow you to be yourself. Those people feel like sunshine, gravitate to the energy givers.
💡 Relationships truly meant for you should come easily & feel like freedom & home. Any one you have to keep secret, force, chase, change or censor yourself – is most likely one that will end & teach you a hard lesson.
💡 The best decision I ever made was to promise myself I would have the hard conversations I didn’t want to have because those are the ones that matter. I decided hiding my words was hiding me, & they may just be the words someone else needs to here to change their life. Your message & voice matter.
How do you know you’ve found the truth to what you’re seeking?
You get to the point where you feel like your life depends on constantly research, studying, & seeking. When we’re in school, often times it does, our life trajectory depends on our studies.
As we age I feel we more study & seek truth about life, our purpose, & who we are in general. We try to make sense of it all. I can tell you I’ve been doing this constantly my entire life.
So the question has been asked, “How do you know when you found the truth to what you’re seeking?”
👉🏻The way you know you’ve found the truth is the truth that you’re seeking is the residence of who you’ve become.
It feels like home.
It’s easy.
It flows like water.
You’ll hear me say be like water, you have to learn to flow like water throughout life.
The problem is for many of us growing up we are taught the truths of all the other people & society. We’re told we have to blend & fit into all the truths. Which then feels heavy, puts many of us into a box or forces us to feel we have to slap a label on our diets, our relationships, & about who we are as humans.
Like we have to fit in a file cabinet in exactly just the right spot or we’re tainted & to be thrown in the trash.
Blend with the loudest most powerful & most authentic truths.
💡Ask yourself, “What if it does work out exactly how I imagined, or greater?”
How bout we end on that note & entertain that thought?! 🌈
Stuck between young enough to do it often, old enough to do it right & old enough to know better, young enough not to care.
-mood.
Anyone else? 😆
🚨 Warning another long one 🙂 ✍🏼 🚨 ⬇️
Had a fabulous evening at the @Indystatefair yesterday! Felt like a kid again & it brought back so many memories. (Photo dump & some 4H & #stockshowlife throwbacks 📸) full post on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/lil_bit_of_fit
The county & state fairs where the highlights of my summers! For those of you still getting to know me, I was raised on a beef cattle farm in small town, McCordsville, Indiana.
Our Farm has been in the Kelly Family for over 160 years. I was a 10 yr 4H member & President, 4 yr FFA member & president, & graduated with a bachelors in Science from @lifeatpurdue
Another fun fact: I’m a @purduedgs alumna💖⚓️
Working with our show cattle was my life, my heart & I miss it❤️ It was also a lot of hard work.
Reflecting, you know what else was? 2020😆
2020 was hard work, 2021 has been no different. It’s like we thought with a new year everything would magically be rainbows & sunshine, right?! Ha. 🙄😑
I feel the years 2018-today have been the most transformative (painful & pleasurable) years of my life, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, spiritually, & relationally.
Doesn’t matter what level of 50 shades of fxcked up, even in a global pandemic, I love having something to work towards.
Call it an obsession, whatever, kind of like the obsession I have with my airfryer & crisy #meatbars
Y’all are welcome🙃🥩♨️❤️
One thing I learned the last 2 yrs was that things can change in a heart beat! Relationally speaking, I went from being single, to a solid relationship, to single again, to married, to divorced (my 2nd).
This doesn’t trigger me anymore. I tell y’all this stuff about me because I want y’all out there who think people’s lives on the Internet are perfect because their pictures are “pretty” -they are not.
I do not have my shi*t together nor do I know where I’m going. I know what I like & don’t like 🤷♀️ I just do the best I can just like you guys.
Some would be devastated by these so called “failures” or “flaws.” However, I choose to be a relentless optimist, I am SO GRATEFUL for every sweet & sour drop of experience I gained thru these chapters of my life.
No ragrets , no what if’s🙏 Not one bit.
I believe in divine timing, that I deserve everything I desire, & the Universe will bring me that – OR BETTER. (That “or better”part 👉🏻 is important. Setting intentions I always add that to the end of my statements.)
It is important to begin with thinking how I want to FEEL in 12 months time to move the needle forward.
I started by writing a long list of all the descriptive words that resonated with me. Words such as authentic, healthy, successful, wealthy, luscious, thriving, vibrant, loving, grateful, loved, significant, creative, satisfied, joyful.
I kept thinking until I decided on the word, NOURISHED.
Immediately I knew that was how I wanted to feel.
Nourishment is usually associated with food however I want to apply that feeling to all parts of my life.
By focusing on how I want to FEEL, it reminds me what I could influence regardless of what was happening in the world❤️
Have you set any goals? Or are you just seeing how the year pans out?
As always I would love to hear your thoughts & I appreciate y’all reading the ramblings of @lil_bit_of_fit 💕
