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!
Who do you think you are?” she asked me (my supervisor).
In a performance review when I was 27 I was told that I had a “strong silence” & was “different” which others took as me being arrogant & cold & that I “needed to be more understanding of other people‘s weaknesses.”
💁🏼♀️In Beth Dutton fashion, let me interpret this: “Your resting bitch face, your sparkle, & the fact you can do other people’s jobs better make them uncomfortable.” 🤷♀️😆
It was eye-opening & ego shattering at the same time. I had no idea that was how I was being perceived. It did encourage me to sit down & observe past behaviors & presentation & how I was “different.”
At that time I was going thru a divorce, in radiology school full-time & working part time on top of it. As I put it, stressed to the titties.🫣
I was like come on sister, my life feels like getting stuck halfway putting on a sports bra when you’re sweaty & ya need Jesus to come down & cut you out of it 😂
When you’re “different” & a “high performer” in life, you might notice that some other people, well — aren’t.
If you want a great life, tattoo these words on your brain: LIFE IS NOT HARD ON YOU; YOU MAKE LIFE HARD FOR YOURSELF.
Life can be hard & people won’t understand you sometimes, yes, but the majority of the “hard” sh*t in life people think is really “hard” in my opinion is really the EASY SH*T.
Just be you & stop over complicating things. People don’t need to understand you you just have to love yourself.
Took myself thrift shopping & a rainy date to the gym yesterday. Had a beautiful day of treasure hunting!
The thing I’ve learned over the years is that many live life haphazardly complacent in a mediocre, lost state…
I hope this can meet you with inspiration today ❤️
Oxox Coach K
HOW TO SHOP AT THRIFT STORES: 7 TIPS FOR FINDING THE HIDDEN GEMS
1. Go in with the right mindset—it’s about finding a treasure.
2. Look through everything, ALL sections. Try them on, they look different on 🙂 If it looks even remotely interesting, throw it in the cart. Have fun!
4. Go often & when the store opens to get the best buys.
5. Feel good supporting the community! My FAVorite part is giving back! My thrift store order of ops: Mom & pop stores → Church stores —> Salvation Army —> Goodwill.
6.Wear outfits that are easy to layer over so you don’t need a fitting room.
7. Buy it if you LOVE it!
HOW TO BUILD A STRENGTH TRAINING ROUTINE
COUNTRY STYLE AIR FRYER RIBS RECIPE
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development. Travel Radiographer, motivational writer/speaker, nutritionist — doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through Crohn’s disease & life as a radiologic technologist with 18 years experience!
After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, hormonal imbalances, & being a competitive athlete, she is passionate about helping others find self love, achieve their goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
I have confessions…(Yeah I’m channeling my inner Usher to share all the things 😆)
Witches, vampires, superheroes, paranormal, & immortality excited me! Dudes, I read all the Goosebumps & vampire books I could get my hands on as a shy, nerdy, overweight, insecure little girl.
Even as an adult, Twilight & The Vampire Diaries consumed me. I wanted to be Bella & Elena.
When I was 8, I asked a librarian: “I wish we all had a choice to live as a superhero or immortal.”
I’ll never forget what she said as she pushed back her dirty glasses. She said, “You know, you can. Your thoughts have power to become things. Start taking & embracing the hard pills right now so you can savor the good pills.”
I thought, “WTF are hard pills & good pills?” (Ok, maybe I didn’t think WTF as an 8 year old but that’s exactly what my adult mind would’ve been saying🤔😄)
Reading & learning about The Dalai Lama later in life, I realized our lives provide us with a shared portion of those hard & good pills that librarian was referring to.
Hard pills: Death, life stress, debt, health problems, obesity, relationship problems, depression, bad habits, addictions, heartbreak, etc.
Good pills: Love, assets, family, friends, a home, income, good habits, health, success, knowledge, etc.
I realized when I was younger, I feared & avoided the “hard” pills instead of embracing them as experiences to learn from.
Experiences to grow from in order to become the best version of myself. They didn’t make me a failure or less worthy, but actually MORE credible & valuable because I could confidently say I had been through some shit, accepted sometimes it be that way, & STILL come out on top.
For that, here are 21 hard pills I wished I’d known before 41 + lessons learned from Dalai Lama that will help you become stronger!
21 Hard Pills I Wished I’d Known Before 41
That if you risk all for love & it doesn’t work out, it’s not a failure because all love stories are worth experiencing. No growth of the heart is a waste. Ever.
2. That it usually takes 20+ years of working as a nobody before you acquire the wisdom & life experience required to know what’s truly extraordinary & that working diligently without concern of the rewards is what actually brings the rewards.
3. That the humbler the person & better the listener, typically the stronger the character & more successful.
4. That we get what we settle for. That your income will never exceed your self-identity & your impact will never be larger than your personal story.
5. That the way people make you feel when you interact with them tells you everything you need to know. Feeding trolls is a waste of your time.
6. That family, flowers, & walks in nature would bring me more happiness than my bank account or material items ever could.
7. That gaining health & being fit would multiply my creativity, happiness, productivity, & abundance considerably.
8. That your choice of relationship partner is one of the main sources of your success (or failure), joy (or misery), & peace (or worry). Choose wisely.
9. That I’d do my finest work in flow & that may not be chained to a desk or trading my time for money but in service, or in nature, or having fun, or in a smile or a conversation.
10. That Heaven & God & the Universe help those who help themselves & see the world as a friendly place. So do your best & let your higher power do the rest.
11. People putting you down or talking about you means you’re probably doing something right & a sign of increasing success. Keep going.
12. That the priorities I thought were important in my youth are actually things I’m least interested in as I mature.
13. That silence, stillness, & solitude form the sweetness of questions answered.
14. That small daily victories performed with disciplined consistency over extended periods of time lead to extraordinary results.
15. That when I didn’t get what I wanted were unanswered prayers because the Universe knew there was better for me.
16. That being scared shitless meant I was about to grow & discomfort is the price of accelerated progress.
17. That the best use of money is to invest in things that bring you & others joy like creating experiences & memories, not securing objects & possessions.
18. That willpower & mental fortitude are built by doing the things you need to do even when you don’t want to do them. Do more difficult shit.
19. That not every moment of your day needs to be used productively & grinding in a singular sense. Sometime productivity & grinding means self care, naps, staring at the stars, making out, making love, & doing absolutely nothing but admiring a life of unlimited beauty.
20. That respecting & loving yourself is vastly more important than others liking you.
21. That life is too short & too beautiful to play small & worry about what you look like or living other people’s timelines. All life has value. Start with your own.
5 Things I Learned From Dalai Lama
1. Nothing Stays The Same
Change is a rule of life. Nothing stays the same forever – bodies, bank accounts, relationships, health, jobs, etc. Don’t let fear stifle you. Embrace change, learn to fly, & enjoy the journey.
Dalai Lama says:
“Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.”
We are young when we leave our homes, parents, & family. Most people fuck up & make some wrong decisions along the way. But on the bright side, this hard pill reminds us that life never stays the same & it gives us the opportunity for growth.
Life is not your comfy sofa. When you take a break from people, places, & things, you analyze & appreciate their worth.
Lesson: The things that cannot fly cannot guarantee their triumphs.
Current life at 41
2. It Takes Time To Make A Difference
Marcus Aurelius, Napolean Hill, & Seneca are the most famous philosophers. You might think they came from heaven.
Remember these people were ordinary human beings. Though they learned something: it was to realize that they could make a difference. They trusted themselves.
As Dalai Lama puts it:
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
We can do remarkable things as soon as we understand our worth & take action.
Lesson: Great things take time & the time is worth it.
I’ve lost 55lbs and put my Crohn’s disease & bulimia in med-free remission via the carnivore diet! Read my healing story here that may help you too!
3. You May Not Get Everything You Wish For
In life, you don’t get what you wish for, you get what you work for. – Unknown
I wish Aladdin were true. But nobody knows how many wishes we have left. Wishes mean nothing unless you put intentional action behind going after them. THAT’S what gets you your wish.
The Universe knows better than we do & sometimes what we think we want is not meant for us – that’s what Dalai Lama means by:
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”
Lesson: Life is like a cinema, & with every act, it pulls up a curtain. The meaning of what’s behind the curtain is up to you.
Grateful for a challenging, fulfilling career as a registered radiologic technologist
4. Legends Share Freely
Wanna know somethin? The illiterate empires died. The literate empires still live today. We read about them. We read about all the greats.
Dalai Lama says:
“Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.”
Share your learnings. “To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die.“ — Thomas Campbell
Lesson: Share what’s on your heart & leave big shoes to fill.
My Dad’s 66th birthday, my 41st birthday, & mom’s new job celebration at Moon Drops Distillery in Fortville, IN
5. Happiness Requires Creative Awareness
As Dalai Lama says:
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
Meaning that if you’re not happy, you are doing something wrong.
Oftentimes we lose ourselves & make life more complex than it really is.
Opt for creative things to find pleasure & purpose in life. Creative things like coloring, music, hiking, fitness, dancing, singing, etc., can help you always find what you truly savor. Purpose brings fulfillment.
Lesson: Happiness is not directly achieved; it’s a product of inner peace & awareness.
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 18 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
“Pictures are worth 1000 words”…𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆? 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦🫣 {Maybe you can relate}
💁🏼♀️I changed my approach to life…I don’t put myself in a “motivation space” I put myself in a 𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 space.
Do what you love. Eat what you love. Move how you love👉 & 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣👂 to what loves you back. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜.
My most successful clients are the ones who have been through some shit yet still choose to be high achievers.
Because they know what it feels like to hit rock bottom. They know they don’t ever want to feel that way again & aren’t afraid to work hard to do & sacrifice to get where they want to be.
They want to be 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦. They believe they’re winners. And they execute.
This also means living a life authentic to them. It doesn’t mean having the biggest bank account with the fanciest clothes or lowest weight on the scale or heaviest weight on the barbell or looking a certain way. ✨It’s about embodying the person they want to be.
𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 {write that shizzle my nizzle, down}
This is why many high achievers have small circles & spend much time alone because they know how to weed out the bullshit. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 & 𝘦𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 & behaviors 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 decisions.
So if you need someone to tell you it’s gonna be OK, you’re not alone, you can do this, & you can figure it out➡️here you go.
Did you know:
I have Crohn’s disease, had cervical cancer in my mid 20s & am unable to have children. I suffered decades with bulimia, orthorexia, gallbladder attacks, kidney stones, surgery, & paralyzing gut complications. I spent the majority of my childhood, teens, & early adulthood, 55 lbs overweight, sick, & broke as fuck. I wrote a blog on my healing & weight loss journey here.
I eat a flexible “carnivore” diet because it serves me best mentally & physically — NOT because I think carbs are the devil, plants are the devil, or people who eat differently than me are wrong. I believe everyone has the right to eat & live as they choose. My priority now at almost 41 years old is longevity, feeling my best, all while looking good nekkid 😉 You can find my daily routine & “secrets” here.
Here are a few videos of simple, basic af meaty deliciousness I enjoy!
#meatbars saved my life!!
I know what it feels like to check out at the grocery store, have all of your cards declined, acknowledge you were broke as fuck, & stand there in tears & shame. I used to be over $40,000 in debt & had my car repo one time. I used to live out of my office & car & eat at hotels to save food on money.
Through these struggles, I learned to love & respect money, time, energy, & freedom. My clothes in this picture are from Goodwill. I shop at Goodwill because I love Goodwill not because I don’t have any money to spend on designer clothes if I wanted to.
It took over 11+ years of consistent social media content, fluctuations in my journey, & learning a lot of shiz along the way to build my platform to what it is today. It wasn’t something I set out to do intentionally it’s something that the Universe blessed me with. I am forever grateful for all of you and the gifts bestowed upon me.
It took over a decade of CrossFit, lifting, multiple cycles of muscle building, fat loss cuts, maintenance phases AND making a lot of mistakes to mold & create the physique you see today. Learn to be patient. It’s about playing the game, not the finish line. There is no finish line. Be an athlete of life. The bulletproof routine I’ve used to keep my body fat low for 4+ years is here on the gram.
I’ve been divorced twice, consider myself “self partnered”, AND the happiest & most fulfilled I’ve ever been. Lonely vs alone are 2 different things. I do have hope for the future that I find my aligned person who loves freedom and adventure as much as I do. The one who makes me feel the way I want to feel & I make them feel the way they want to feel.
I would coach & do Xray for free if money wasn’t a wonderful tool necessary for energy exchange & life because I love them that much. I value having purpose, I love working & I hope you guys have things in your life that light your soul on fire too!
Some things to know:
I believe healing, mentally & physically, take time. I provide daily consultations & coach people to live THEIR best life. I’ve worked in radiology & as a nutritionist for over 18yrs.
Body image healing is a skill you sharpen & learn to navigate successfully with wisdom & acceptance & a whole helluva lotta self love.
Emotional inflammation & trauma weigh you down more so than physical weight. As a former US Marine wife, I’m especially fond of supporting our military & veterans – body, mind, & spirit.
I’m a farmers daughter, & Purdue graduate with degrees in Science, Radiology, & Nutrition. Grateful for vast training which focused on mental health, disordered eating, sports performance, & gut healing.
I love all the meats & eggs & bourbon 🥃 & my wish for everyone is to find a lifestyle & LEGACY they love that gives them PURPOSE, nourishment, & food & body freedom no matter what diet. I am not a “genetically lean” petite (5’1) woman. I spent the majority of my teens & 20s overweight. I’ve been all shapes & sizes.
I post blogs daily for you with tons of free content here that I enjoy creating for y’all. my mom & dad are my best friends & biggest influences in my life. They are the hardest working people I know & I will forever be grateful for them. I hope you have people in your life you love too! A million more things I could put here. So here’s to learning from my dumb shit not to do dumb shit 😂
Oxox Coach “sorta sweet sorta Beth Dutton🤷♀️🤠” K
All resources, discount codes, meal plans, workout routines, guides, recipes, coaching, & more here
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 18 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
“When you are “getting your shit together” & finding clarity it oftentimes gets lonely. There’s growth in being alone & there’s a big difference in being lonely vs alone. You don’t have to be the person with a lot to say & you don’t owe anyone any explanations. The most powerful person is the best listener, especially with yourself.”
I’ll never forget that.
I’m writing this update & sharing my thoughts just as much for me as it is for you. Enjoy the storytelling! I appreciate all of you who take time to read & allow me to add value to your lives whether it be here on the blog, Instagram, or “real life.”
I’m at a point in my life where I’m so trusting in my abilities, self awareness, adaptability, & faith that the Universe always takes care of me, it’s unfathomable. I always end up where I’m meant to be. Especially when I feel anxious, stagnant, & just fuckin weird sometimes.
I finally surrendered & quit trying to make sense or rigidly control everything.
I live by the MO: “I don’t do rules, I do what feels right.“
Maybe you’re here in a similar energetic space, too.
Warm summer days, the road & the radio = life’s simple pleasures
When you first meet me, I’m pretty quiet. (Unless I’m jacked up on caffeine😂)
I’m an observer, an “experience collector” I like to say.
I might not have a ton to say. I may not have a ton of questions to ask, but that’s because I do a lot of listening.
Not in a judgmental sense, but out of an intention to learn. To actually hear your story. To connect with your energy & not just the words coming out of your mouth.
The more you listen, the more people tell you. The more you get quiet with yourself, the more clarity you have with your answers & paths you wish to take.
In these times when I go internal & solitary (hermit mode lol), some people in my life tend to get triggered. My silence is nothing personal, but a protective growth measure & absolute survival necessity for me.
↓SIDE NOTE ↓
{A tip that will help you live a more peaceful life: live by the Four Agreements}
The Four Agreements are:
Be Impeccable With Your Word.
Don’t Take Anything Personally.
Don’t Make Assumptions.
Always Do Your Best.
Best I’ve ever felt & looked. My 40’s have treated me well! Every year gets better!
Here are a few blogs for you, because I know I’ll get asked about food/workouts/routines, etc. ↓
I’ve had a lot of conversations. I’ve listened to a lot of stories from y’all. I’ve heard a lot about life. I’ve had a lot of wisdom, vulnerability, courage, & confession shared with me.
And while I’d never disclose the words & revelations composing these exchanges, the one thing I am constantly reminded of is: →nobody has their shit together.
The ONLY way to truly have your shit together…is to accept that you’re NEVER going to have it together & to find out how to live within that.
The people we admire for their “togetherness” just have one piece or a few pieces of the puzzle figured out. What they don’t do, is let the subsequent balls dropping interfere with their success & progress.
Managing overwhelm comes with how well you know your comfort zone. Not for the purpose of staying within it, but having enough awareness to know when it is beneficial for you to push past your pre-existing limits & when you need to stay in it.
Hey, I like my bourbon on the rocks kinda like my life LOL! Beef & bourbon can solve alotta problems ya know. [ Write that down 🙂 ]
Having it together is boring. It doesn’t give you much else to learn nor extension to grow.
I’d rather take my mess & have a story to show😉
I stumbled across a letter I wrote to myself my freshman year at Purdue.
During orientation, we were told to write these letters to our future selves with our hopes & dreams.
“Dear Katie, I hope you always remember how wildly beautiful you are. And on those days that you forget, I hope you always remember you have the strength to come back, forgive yourself & try again.”
The one piece that struck me → I ended it saying that, “I hope that when I read this letter, I have learned to love myself & have grown as a person.”
You’ll learn as you get older when you know you’re rare, you live different.
You love different. You surround yourself with other rare, high value people, too.
You don’t waste your rarity taking things personal or trying to control other people.
You don’t waste your time trying to chase or convince others of your worth.
So proud of the woman I used to be that created the woman I am today.
I wrote another letter on July 1st to myself on my 40th birthday eve last year.
I sent it to a woman today mourning a younger version of herself…
“People everywhere walk around fearing aging, & trying to deny its fate. But it is exciting…a new decade, a new start, a new adventure!
I love how much you have grown in your acceptance of being just who you are over the last few decades.
I love how you are willing to do the hard work of examining thoughts, actions & past experiences. How you work to find all the little elements that make you, you.
I love how you have taken on challenges & stepped into new things, with some trepidation but also excitement.
I love that you feel more & more comfortable in your own skin, with your own particular way of dressing, loving, eating, & being.
I love that you are a good friend & an encourager of women.
I know that last decade had pain, some heartache & tears, & I can’t promise that the next decade won’t hold that too. But I pray that you will continue to remember that grief is a part of life, that you will allow it to wash over you but not overwhelm you.
I pray that you grow in your writing. That your words reach women of all ages, that you lift them up will a simple phrase or a recognition of “me too”.
I pray that you continue to grow in your capacity to love. That you will continue to be a true, honest friend & lover. One who is able to have hard conversations & grow a friendship & relationship.
I pray that you will not despise the small ordinariness of life. But also, that you won’t get subsumed by it & will reach for extraordinary experiences.
I pray that you will continue to treat your body with the respect & honor it deserves. Not despising any part of it, but celebrating that you are a woman of 40 years.
Above all I pray that you will continue to listen to your maker & creator, when he says “this is the way, walk in it”. (Isaiah 30:21)
Happy 40th, & may the next decade be better than the last,
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 18 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
I didn’t dare talk about it much publicly when I was younger, I used to binge eat — A LOT. It didn’t help my health, gut issues, gym performance, or fat loss goals either.
It would happen mostly when I was lonely, stressed, or bored out of my mind. Sometimes, it would happen when I was celebrating, too — but always when I was alone. I would go to the store, buy all the junk food, then go home or sit in my car & eat as much as I could. I was an addict, food was my drug, & binging was a high.
I’d eat until I didn’t think I could eat another bite, & then felt so sick I’d puke to “undo” what I’d done. Sometimes even after I threw up, I’d wait a while, & when the feelings of nausea started to subside, I’d start eating again until either the food was gone, I vomited, or until I went to bed in deep shameful sleep.
Without fail, I’d wake up feeling like absolute shit the next day. I’d beat myself up, forcing an unending spiral of guilt, restriction, & punishment.
To make myself feel even worse, I’d look in the mirror & tell myself how terrible I looked, & that I would never be good enough until I could stop eating & got as thin as I could. That if only I could somehow turn myself into one of those people who just “forgets” to eat, then I’d finally be good enough.
But that was the wrong approach.
Learning to Treat Food as Fuel Looking back at how I used to treat food & abuse my body, my first reaction is to wonder what the hell was wrong with me. After all, the binge eating obviously made me feel like a dumpster fire, physically & emotionally, yet I kept doin it.
But when I took the time to look deeper into my behaviors & habits, I started to be kinder to myself & feel empathy for that past Katie.
Back then, I didn’t treat food as fuel as I do now. I treated it as the enemy.
So if you deal with binge eating at times, or know someone who does, know that you’re not alone. Know there’s hope. But you have to start treating food like you should — as nourishment, not punishment, a treat, or reward.
Here are the strategies that slowly helped me learn to stop binging & start treating food as fuel!
If you don’t know how to stop binge eating start here
Start Eating Enough During the Day
One of the constant mistakes I used to make was to eat as little as possible throughout the day, often limiting food intake to as little as 1,000–1,200 calories. I thought I was being “good” & if I could eat as little as possible without completely crashing, the better.
This caused several problems:
Incredibly low energy, meaning my workouts were shit (if I worked out at all).
Mental fatigue, due to lack of fuel — your body needs food to function at an optimal level.
Feelings of endless hunger due to hormones bring completely f*cked, even after eating a reasonable meal. This made me more susceptible to binging!
The key was pretty simple: EAT enough throughout the day.
Start tracking your calories if you need to keep yourself accountable, & aim to eat at least every 4 hours. This strategy may scare you a bit & make you feel like you’re eating “too much.” But trust me — eating enough during the day does wonders to help you avoid binging.
Don’t Keep Trigger Foods Around
We all have certain foods that once we start eating them, we just can’t stop.
A few of mine:
Cracker, cookies, cereal, cheese nips, goldfish
Sweet sugary candy & drinks
Ice cream, cool whip, chocolate, nut butters
Cake, cupcakes, doughnuts, rolls, biscuits
Rice, french fries, mashed potatoes – basically any CARB.
I’m an abstainer, carbs are drugs for me so I cut them out of my diet almost completely switching to a carnivore WOE (way of eating). Not only is my Crohn’s disease in remission, I’ve lost 55lbs, & healed my binge eating changing the way I eat.
Why do I not “cheat” on my diet? Because it’s not worth it. You’re not winning by cheating on yourself.
Grace & Control Your Environment
Nobody is perfect. We will all have days when we eat too much, choose the less healthy option.
That’s why I follow a flexible “carnivore” low carb approach. I eat well 90% of the time, eating perfect & healthy 100% of the time is unrealistic.
One of the most common questions: How do you stick to a healthy diet when you’re surrounded by tempting food?
The answer: change your environment.
In other words, make it as easy as possible to eat healthy food & as difficult as possible to eat unhealthy food.
Keep healthy food with you so you’re never tempted.
Make it harder to eat out by cooking more meals at home.
Don’t grocery shop when you’re hungry & make sure you’re eating enough to fuel your day!
Restriction or Food Freedom?
Abstainers vs Moderators
Food & sugar addiction are not bullsh*t excuses people make to eat & live a certain way. I lived food addiction for 30+ yrs. It negatively affected me physically & mentally.
I am definitely an abstainer when it comes to carbs & sugar. It is freeing to me to have food rules & not have to waste energy justifying my choices & actions. I either DO or I DON’T. I also understand not everyone is wired this way.
Moderators & abstainers are often very judgmental toward each other, as they both believe that their way of approaching temptation is the right way.
Some think that a meat-based diet or “carnivore” is too extreme and restrictive. But whether that’s true for you might depend on whether you’re an Abstainer or a Moderator. This is why we determine which one you are. It makes choosing a nutrition approach easier because sustainability, ease, & adherence are everything.
I feel our society as a whole has a strong moderator bias. How many times have you heard someone say: “Everything in moderation”?
As one who is an abstainer & suffered with food addiction, disordered eating, orthorexia, alongside an autoimmune condition like Crohn’s, I know first hand not everyone can moderate & eat all foods without repercussions.
Saying things to an abstainer like:
“You’re too restrictive.”
“Just loosen up.”
“One won’t kill you.”
etc…
…is like telling an alcoholic or drug addict to “just have one drink or one hit, you’ll be fine.”
How to Handle Food Pushers & Moderators If You’re an Abstainer
“You’re too restrictive.” We’re all different & I respect your choices. To me, the way I eat is freeing & meets my needs so I can be the best for you. I honor my body & that may change in the future, but for right now, I feel great!
“Just loosen up.” I’m happy you can moderate food choices, but that does not align for me. For people who are abstainers, we have specific needs & approaches that work better.
“Just have one.” I appreciate the gesture,but I don’t feel my best when I have those foods, mentally or physically. Thank you for understanding!
“Meat is bad for you.” Well, so is drinking nothing but celery juice. ( jus sayin lol)
Everyone has the freedom to eat & live as they choose. Right now this is my choice & I respect yours. I feel great, it’s easy & sustainable for me. If I get to a point where I feel like I need to make an adjustment, I will honor that.
Go your own way.
Can you relate to my story too?
oxox Coach K
All resources, links, discount codes, guides, recipes, coaching, & more here. Thank you for allowing me to add value to your lives!
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, CrossFit, & adapting a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 18 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & personal life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
I tried every program possible to get in shape in my 20s & 30s, & I still looked & felt like sh*t.
I constantly had ‘projects’. Big Plans.
Keto for 6 weeks. Crash diet for 3 months. Cold showers for… well I didn’t last long with that one, to be honest. Brrrr.
After 40 your mind & body start arguing with you a little. You realize 99% of people struggle to do things that can’t be found in their social media feeds, meal plans, cookie cutter bs fitness stuff, & Google searches.
The secrets come from within. Check out this video with Serena at Carnivore Revolution!
In the video we talk: – Your relationship with food, exercise, & self – Being a moderator vs abstainer – Crossfit, training & workouts – Trigger foods & tracking food, macros -What I drink & eat -High fat vs high protein carnivore -Meat bars & recipes -Tips to help anyone wanting to change their health -Gut issues, gut healing, Crohn’s disease, disordered eating -Judgment, criticism, worrying about what other people think of you -Social media triggers, food pushers And more!
If you want to feel more confident, work to identify & eliminate these confidence-killing, progress smashing habits:
Avoiding emotions & reassurance-seeking
Second-guessing yourself
Constantly catastrophizing & thinking negatively
Dwelling on the past, mistakes, & failures
Avoiding fear & feeling unsafe
Each week, I create blogs & content with simple, practical tips for building emotional & physical health & wellbeing. I truly hope these have helped you create a better human!
All resources, links, & guides live in the link in my Instagram bio, highlights, blog at lilbitoffit.com, & YouTube! You can also subscribe to my private email list!
I enjoy sharing my experiences & knowledge. Thank you to all who read, engage, & have become a part of my digital family!
Here’s how most people think about their lack of confidence:
I’d be more confident & successful if I lost 20 lbs…
If only I had more money I’d be happier…
If my parents had really loved me then I’d feel more confident & secure in my relationships…
If I had more time I could focus on my fitness…
Fortunately, they’re wrong.
Of course, everything from genetics to childhood experience has some influence on how confident you feel (or don’t). But by far the biggest influence on confidence is the one everyone seems to miss…
It’s your habits in the present, not the events of your past, that determine your confidence.
In my work as a nutrition coach & taking care of patients for over 18 years in the healthcare industry, I’ve found that there are a handful of confidence-killing habits people fall into without knowing it. And it’s these habits that are the real causes of chronically low confidence, body hate, & unhappiness with life. If you can learn to identify & work through them, you’ll find that your natural levels of confidence & life satisfaction are much higher than you realize.
Why you over eat & self sabotage
1. You’re addicted to avoiding emotions & reassurance
Reassurance-seeking is like outsourcing emotional labor onto other people. And not only does it kill your confidence, it also tends to sabotage your relationships & lead to people becoming resentful of you.
Food & healthy emotional navigation are medicine. They can stabilize you & also throw you off. I’ve observed in over 18 years of working in healthcare & nutrition, overeating, body hate, & food addictions are common among those who avoid &/or numb emotions & are constantly seeking reassurance & outside validation.
Avoiding painful feelings always makes them worse in the end. When you immediately run away from your emotional difficulties, you’re teaching your brain that you’re afraid of feeling bad & can’t handle it on your own. This means the next time you feel afraid you’re going to feel doubly afraid and not confident to deal with it, oftentimes seeking numbing through food, drugs, alcohol, spending, & using other people.
A helpful survival guide
Tips that have helped me to eat well, stay fit, & release negativity before self sabotaging & over eating:
Breathe: When you feel stress, immediately focus on breathing slowly & deeply. This releases negative energy. Holding your breath out of fear traps toxicity in your body.
Hydrate: Water purifies you. Drink filtered or spring water, especially when you’ve been exposed to negative energy & have the urge to overeat. Consume at least 1/2 your body weight in oz daily. Get in adequate electrolytes. Take a bath or shower. Water washes away impurities of all kinds.
Minimize Sugar & Processed Food As Much As Possible: Although you may crave carbs & sugar (as well as alcohol), they will destabilize you mentally & physically. This makes you more susceptible to absorbing unwanted energy & self sabotaging. These kinds of hyperpalatable foods are like drugs, leaving you wanting more.
Prioritize Protein: Protein stabilizes. It gives a sense of grounding & satiation. Get protein at every meal, at least 30-50g. Big reason many food addicts thrive, lose weight, & heal on carnivore.
Rest: Sleep.Remove yourself from your busy routine. Regularly unplug. We stay stuck in the in-between, dissatisfied & seeking something to make us feel better. Solitude is your best friend. Go take a walk in nature. Eat alone & mindfully especially if you’re an empath.
Restore & Release: Part of the human condition is that we come with soul wounds, past trauma, & conditioning. Our job is to heal & reintegrate the perceived “unlovable” parts of ourselves so we can live connected to Self, Source, & each other. The parts of yourself that you’re angry or ashamed of are the source of your suffering. Therapy does wonders!
Move: Walk, go to the gym, get sunlight, connect with friends. We cope with stress, including loneliness, by using dopamine-triggering substances & behaviors as a means of avoiding painful emotions & self-awareness. But if we make a commitment to living a kick-ass life, then moving the body will get the dopamine flowing, reconnecting us to what we truly enjoy, like our friends & families. Oh, and that workout high & lookin good nekkid too!!
Second-guessing & perfectionism
2. You second-guess yourself constantly
Each time you second-guess yourself, it’s a tiny message to your brain that you don’t believe in yourself. If you’re in the habit of constantly second-guessing yourself, think about what you’re teaching your brain?
If every time a big decision arrives your immediate reaction is to tell your brain you’re not capable of making big decisions, how confident can you expect to feel the next time a big decision comes around?
Look, it’s obviously important to be thoughtful before making decisions — especially big ones with major consequences and lots of uncertainty.
But it’s also important to accept that you will never eliminate uncertainty entirely. This means there will always be a chance you make the wrong decision, but they’re just lessons that help make you a better, more well-equipped version of yourself.
The heart of second-guessing is the unwillingness to accept the fundamental uncertainty of life. Chronic second-guessing is a form of perfectionism where you feel like no matter how hard you work, the result is never good enough because it’s not perfect. If you want to feel more confident, you need to make your peace with uncertainty & accept the responsibility of making decisions & being unattached from the outcome.
Managing your inner narrative
3. You constantly catastrophize & think negatively
Catastrophizing is an extreme form of worry where you quickly start thinking about all the worst case scenarios…
Oh my God, I’m gonna gain 10 lbs if I lift & eat more…
Great, I’m gonna lose my job. How will I be able to make rent? What will other people think?
I can’t wear that… they probably think I’m poor or ugly, etc…
The ability to imagine the worst case scenario can be a good thing in the appropriate time & place if you can emotionally navigate thru the therapeutic process to shift your mindset to one of safety, power, & security. But if you’re in the habit of always catastrophizing, not only will it chip away at your confidence in your ability to handle difficulties in the future — it’s also going to make you incredibly anxious & stressed to the titties all the time.
If you’re constantly telling yourself the world is ending, you’re going to constantly feel like the world is ending. And it’s awfully hard to feel confident when you’re always worried that disaster is right around the corner.
“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” Roy T. Bennett
Embrace failures as lessons
4. You dwell on past mistakes
Just like it’s hard to feel confident if you’re always predicting that disaster is about to strike, it’s similarly hard to feel confident if you’re constantly reminding yourself of your mistakes & “failures.”
Healthy reflection is a good & normal thing. Which means some degree of thinking back on your mistakes in an attempt to learn from them is very useful — even confidence-boosting!
But if you’re habitually reminding yourself of past mistakes well past the point of new learning, it’s all side effect & no benefit. You’re keeping your shame & insecurity high & your confidence & self-worth low.
It’s hard to feel confident about the future when you won’t let go of the past.
The trick is that you have to be willing to live with the fact that the past is unchangeable, which means you are truly helpless to change it.
More often than not, incessant rumination about the past is a sign that you haven’t really confronted that helplessness & learned to embrace it o make better decisions. Your low confidence & life dissatisfaction are unfortunate casualties of that denial.
“To think too much is a disease.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Stop avoiding fear
5. You’re afraid of feeling unsafe & afraid
The American President Franklin Roosevelt famously said: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. And while his political and economic policies aren’t something I’m qualified to comment on, as a statement of human psychology, that quote is pretty right on the mark.
Because here’s the thing: The fear that keeps your confidence low doesn’t come from the thing itself, but from the feelings about it.
Why do you think many people drink before giving speeches/toasts or going on dates? Alcohol doesn’t make you more articulate or attractive. Alcohol makes you feel confident because it gets rid of your fear & inhibitions & lets your natural confidence shine through (at the right dosage, anyway 🙂
In any situation where you lack confidence & feel afraid or unsafe, there’s a good chance the real obstacle is your relationship with fear & specific triggers. If you want to feel more confident, start to cultivate a healthier relationship with your fear. Start acknowledging it & validating it instead of trying to avoid it. Remember: Confident people don’t escape fear. They master it.
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 18 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
My body shivered as I undressed & stepped on the scale. I looked at the number. Shit.
But I’m different now. I’m better. I don’t read Anorexia blogs, starve myself, or equate my weight with my self-worth anymore. Yet, a tiny thought crosses my mind. “Just five more,” it whispers. “Imagine how powerful you’d feel. Maybe then you’d actually like yourself.”
Instead of glorifying shredded abs & single digit body fat, I’m speaking up. In a society that pressures us to look a certain way, I know others share my past struggle. Yeah, they’re the parts of me I’m not proud of, but understanding them changed my life.
I used to believe that starving was an art, bare bones were beautiful, & I was an artist.
I’d try & mold my body to match the models on TV & in the magazines. I worked hard to paint the emptiness I felt inside.
When I was in 3rd grade, I got the honor of being ‘the fat kid.’ This event might not sound like a big deal to some, but to 8-year-old me, it was traumatic. Food became my enemy. My stomach hurt all the time, too. Later on in life to be diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. My poor relationships with food (specifically binging on carbs & sugar) & body image exacerbated.
At the beginning of 7th grade, we did weigh-ins. When it was my turn to stand on the scale, my health teacher made a frowny face at the numbers & pulled me aside. I was informed I was 160lbs & obese at 5ft tall.
My cheeks burned, & tears streamed from my eyes as I was lectured about exercising & eating less.
And by my senior year of high school, I was a mastermind of my craft. I learned how to eat just enough to keep me from binging or passing out.
Losing weight was like a drug — each time I stood on the scale, dopamine rushed into my brain, & I forgot all my problems.
Getting smaller also gave me a sense of power — & I loved it. I loved feeling “better” than everyone else because I was the ‘perfect’ anorexic & bulimic.
No matter how skinny I became, I couldn’t get rid of my problems. My weight yoyo’d over the years. I was fading away from my life; I was lonely, miserable, & sick. I burned bridges in relationships because of my constant irritability, fatigue, gut issues, & obsession with losing weight.
While I’d been chasing the ‘high’ & power, there were other feelings, a deeper longing, that I needed to acknowledge. Helplessness & self hate.
From my struggles came my strengths & my passion for helping others. My awesomeness comes from being myself — from writing, speaking my truth, & kindling the potential energy within me.
We are all artists; we’re sculptors & painters, creators of our dreams, poets of our memories. Let our hands mold our ambitions, not our appearances. Because it is there where we find our true power!
oxox Coach K
Like this Blog? Join my email list & follow along on the gram for all the life & resources to help you!Link Here
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
Losing weight ultimately comes down to what you do on a daily basis.
It’s not your herculean efforts every month or so that will bring you results. It’s the small things you do day in and day out. While not hugely exciting, it’s effective.
In the blog post today we talk about: 4 Damaging Habits Ruining Your Results Most People Do When Trying To Lose Fat
PLUS here’s 7 easy habits that will help to accelerate your weight loss journey with simple lifestyle changes:
Track calories Calories are not the be-all & end-all of weight loss. But they do matter. You need to have a good idea of how many calories you’re eating each day. Download MyFitnessPal. Track calories, daily.
Create a calorie deficit Now that you have a good idea of how much you’re eating on a daily basis, you need to create a calorie deficit. A good method for this is the following formula: (Bodyweight (lbs) x 15) — 400 Or use this calculator: tdeecalculator.net This will give you a rough ballpark to aim for.
Get 8 hours of sleep If you’re not getting 8 hours of sleep, you’re sabotaging your fat loss efforts. Inadequate sleep makes your body more likely to hold onto fat.It also alters your hunger hormones & decreases willpower, making it much harder to stay on track with your nutrition.
Eat 1g of protein per lb of body weight Eating more protein will accelerate your fat loss. Protein: Burns calories from digesting it, keeps you full for longer, builds muscle mass, limits cravings.
Limit alcohol, sugar, & processed food All of these will sabotage your weight loss efforts.They’re packed with calories, mess with your hormones, & will lead to other bad habits. Go out and enjoy your life, but keep these to a minimum.
Lift weights 3x/week, walk 10k steps/day Lifting weights & walking are key if you want to lose fat. Walking + loading your muscles: burns fat, makes you look leaner, increases your metabolism, improves your muscle mass (which will lead to you burning more calories at rest).
Drink water Boring, I know. But drinking more water is crucial if you want to lose weight. In order to function properly, our bodies need a lot of water + electrolytes. Water is also highly satiating — meaning you’re less likely to want snacks & will also eat less at mealtime. Drink 1/2 your body weight in filtered water each day.
4 Damaging Habits Ruining Your Results Most People Do When Trying To Lose Fat
If it helps keep you motivated & you use it to track your long-term progress, great. But if it’s a source of unending frustration, you’re probably falling into the first & most common pitfall of losing fat: obsessing over the numbers on the scale.
A number should never have the power to make or break your day — especially when dozens of variables affect it.
Though I weigh myself nearly daily, I only do it to keep track of the weekly & monthly averages. Tracking numbers with a long-term view can ensure you keep your goal in sight without falling into the self-doubt rabbit hole.
How to start:
If you like weighing yourself, do it daily or every once in a while, but make sure you only compare weekly or monthly averages. The long-term trend is more important than the random daily fluctuations.
Important tip: Get a scale that measures your fat & muscle percentages. Tracking these values is what matters when losing fat.
If you don’t like weighing yourself, take progress pictures with the same clothing & lighting conditions every week or every month.
#2. Becoming an App’s Prisoner
Many people have developed an eating disorder because they’ve let a calorie-tracking app rule their lives. They feel like a failure if they eat more than the app’s recommended goal or if their macros are off.
They start fearing certain foods, the origin story of most eating disorders.
Now, I tracked for decades, I only do occasionally now. It taught me a lot about nutrition — and food freedom (yes, you read that correctly). As I know how many calories my body needs to maintain weight & function at my best. I learned it SAFE to EAT WELL.
I know how to properly adjust calories & macros to make my body look & feel, too depending on my goals. I use the calorie tracking app to ensure I’m not going overboard with food.
How to start:
If you feel comfortable tracking calories, ensure you do so with a weekly overview. This will allow you to relax on the days you go over. For instance, if your goal is 2,000 calories/day, that’s 14,000 calories/week. So if one day you eat 4,000, ensure that on the other six days of the week, you eat 10,000 calories.
If you feel uncomfortable tracking calories or suffered from an eating disorder, try this tip: 85% of your meals should be nutritionally & calorically on point (protein centric, healthy fats & whole foods). The rest of the meals (15%) are for flexibly enjoying life.
#3. Forgetting Sustainable Fat Loss Habits
Years before I got smart, I felt like a winner because I’d lost some weight while eating nutrient poor, processed diet foods. (Hello Atkins bars, slim fast, & lean cuisines) I reduced my meals from 3-4/day to 2 (& sometimes one) + exercised like 2+ hours a day.
The little food, coupled with excessive exercise + massive amounts of stress, created a hormonal, mental & physical dumpster fire. As I restricted more, & fell into the binge/purge/guilt/restrict cycle, eventually the weight returned & I looked worse. Why? Simple.
I made shrinking my body a hobby & tried to hate myself thin & happy. I learned an essential truth about sustainable fat loss: you have to make it a healthy lifestyle based on the foundation of the big rocks (see photos below).
Though you can achieve a calorie deficit by eating whatever you want, try prioritizing nutrient-dense foods that provide your body with what it needs to thrive mentally & physically.
A place to start is to consume an average of 1g of protein/lb of body weight if you’re in a normal weight range or choose your goal weight if you have more weight to lose. Use the TDEEcalculator.net to find your maintenance calories & start there.
When you’re trying to get healthy & lose fat, birthday parties, weddings — any social gathering can inspire anxiety.
What if I overindulge? What if they judge me? I’ll have to exercise extra hard to burn off that slice of cake!
I have a question: WHY are you trying to lose fat & get healthy?
For most of us, the answer will be something like: to be stronger, healthier, to look better — to be happier.
That last point is crucial. Most of us want to achieve a certain fat percentage because we believe that’ll make us happier. And I won’t lie: Achieving & maintaining the physique you want is incredibly rewarding.
But you know what’s even more rewarding? Spending time with your loved ones.
An 80-year Harvard study found that the #1 thing that makes us happy & live longer is having strong social bonds — not a hot body with a low fat percentage.
So if your ultimate goal is to be happy, neglecting social gatherings forever is your worst decision. Moreover, as I’ve mentioned many times, fat loss should be a long, sustainable process. A process of forever learning & evolving. It requires patience, time, and enjoyment.
How to start:
Don’t avoid social contact to achieve a fat loss or health goal unless it’s necessary. Instead, try adopting some best practices that can help keep you on track while enjoying the company of your loved ones.
Prioritize protein to help satiate your hunger while keeping your muscles strong. Ordering something like grilled chicken breast or a steak will keep you satiated & less prone to binging. Eat before you go if you need to, don’t go hungry.
Opt for zero-calorie drinks if possible. Water, tea, coffee, diet pop if you have to. No-minimal alcohol.
Check the menu ahead of time. Load up on protein first. Skip sauces & dressings or have them on the side. Check the cooking method used. Higher cal will be described typically as pan-fried, breaded, creamed, dipped, scalloped, slathered, etc. Low cal will be grilled, steamed, baked, roasted, broiled, seared.
Communicate your needs to others. Bring your food if you’re in prep or cutting for a specific reason that requires rigidity. Especially important if you have specific digestive needs. Use this opportunity to educate your friends & family if they ask you why you’re eating this way.
Final Thoughts
Long-Lasting Fat Loss is simple once you stop doing these things & make it a lifestyle you love. Many of us hope to quickly shed pounds when a significant event or a holiday approaches, so we:
Obsess over daily & normal scale fluctuations instead of tracking progress over a long period.
Become prisoners of a calorie-tracking app instead of using it for information while keeping a weekly (or monthly) overview.
Forget about the big rocks of sustainable fat loss & fall back into self sabotaging habits.
Get lost in information & think we have to do what everyone else is doing or we just don’t do anything because we’re so overwhelmed.
Avoid social gatherings because we’re afraid of judgement or we can’t manage ourselves instead of understanding that social contact makes us happy & flexibility is totally doable. You can have this AND that! Just takes a strategy & a plan.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Eat the right foods for you. Make habits an effortless LIFESTYLE.
Get exercise, protein, & quality sleep everyday.
Track your data (food/weight/blood sugar/ketones, labs) if things aren’t working. Avoid fake, processed, sugary drinks & foods.
Mind your habits, thoughts, & circle or they’ll mind you.
Enjoy the process! There is no end goal, just the journey!
Like this Blog? Follow along for my digital diary plus daily tips & resources on Insta Here!
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
In my own words, I would say cadence is the lattice (or path) by which we live life.
Everyone has a cadence in their life.
Two questions that PING💥 punched me in the gut:
👉“Is my cadence life-giving or is it exhausting?”
👉“Does it allow me to flourish & thrive or does it leave me overwhelmed?”
Commanding your cadence…
brings chaos into order
turns hopes into habits
provides flexibility within structure
is critical to choose the reality of your life.
This is the beauty: you get to choose the cadence of your life. No one gets to choose it for you.
As you begin to do this & be intentional & live this way, what you will find is there’s actually an optimalcadence for you.
There are elements that allow you to find the optimal cadence for your own life. Every priority or event has its own optimal cadence (flow/priority of importance/repeatability).
For example, brushing your teeth is a cadence that needs to be more frequent. If you’re going a week without brushing your teeth, we have problems.
Eating & sleeping WELL & working out (SHOULD BE) top priority cadences effortlessly repeated, because they make us our healthiest, happiest, best selves, which transitions into every facet of our lives.
Then there are other shades of cadence that are less frequent: Visiting family or friends across the country or things like indulging in a luxurious vacation.
They’re both priorities.
They both matter, but the optimal cadence for them is different.
A second point is that everyone’s individual cadence is unique to them, just like diets, workouts, relationships, movies, etc.
Each of us has different temperaments, needs, preferences, love languages, etc — wirings.
Some of you might be morning people like me. Early birds. I am a morning person. I love it when it’s dark & quiet. I love watching the sun come up. I get most of my channeled messages and ideas early in the morning while walking. Some people hate that.
Some people are night owls & they produce their best work late at night after everybody’s asleep.
Sometimes work obligations can affect your optimal cadence. For some folks & families, especially people who work in healthcare or sales/business who travel a lot, they might have an on-call schedule or crazy work schedule.
In this case, your optimal cadence as a human or family might have to look different because you know on a weekend you’re not going to get friends & family time. You’re going to have to prioritize that differently earlier in the week to ensure you have time with your kids & spouse & friends because of the fact that your on call schedule or travel is going to be disruptive.
Lastly, every season can have a different optimal cadence.
Right now, I’m healthy & strong living in maintenance, focused on longevity & just being happy.
I haven’t had a Crohn’s flare in four years since changing my diet & lifestyle. [𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘣𝘪𝘰 & 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘨𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴, & 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 & 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦.] You can find that here
There was a time I was very sick, very broke, very lonely, & I had to adjust my life to heal those parts of myself.
There was a time I was a competitive CrossFit athlete & had to eat & live differently.
There was a time I was training for a photo shoot in a fat loss cut & had to eat & live differently.
There was a time I was severely in debt, had no idea what my purpose in life was & I lived differently then, too.
All these seasons were confusing & hard as fuck & came with their own sets of lessons, pros & cons.
One idea as you’re beginning to think through cadences in your own life can be to study others around you.
Especially those that you admire or have learned from ahead of you in life.
Remember the truth, you choose the cadence of your life. No one can give it to you. You get to choose.
I’m going to share a few of my personal cadences. I posted my bulletproof daily routine on IG to help y’all see how I prioritize my life so that you can create your own success, routine. You can find that here
These are just examples, this isn’t to say it’s for you, because again, your cadence is unique to you. Hopefully some of the ones I’m sharing here can help you think about things differently in your life.
My cadences are:
Gratitude, Positive Affirmations, & a Walk first thing in the morning. They help me align physically & mentally for my day. They put my mental filter, my heart filter, & my physical filter for the day in the right place.
Right after that I sit in silence or listen to a nourishing podcast while I eat my meaty breakfast in front of my red light. Then I use my infrared sauna. (All resources, guides, products, & discount codes are here in the link in my IG bio)
Sitting in silence after having slept & walking are some of the best processing times for me contemplating what has happened & contemplating what’s ahead.
After the work day, I mentally recap what I did well & what I could do better. I also give thanks for doing my best & remind myself that I live by the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
I touch base with my family & close circle every week.
I challenge myself & do something new &/or put myself in a different environment every week.
I make saving & investing my time, energy, & money wisely a daily game so that it’s fun & easy for me so that I have more financial & personal wealth.
Notice there’s different timings we talked earlier about different priorities that have different optimal cadences, & that’s what structure here shows.
With structure comes freedom & flexibility because you’re strong in your foundation & what you believe & stand for.
It’s not overly complicated. You don’t have to have it all perfect at once. You just need to start. For me, there’s daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, & annual cadences.
Why is commanding your cadence so critical to choose & create the reality of your life?
The first is commanding your cadence facilitates your habits. Habits are some of the most powerful elements of our life. There was a Duke researcher in 2006, who did this large study around habits. What he found was that greater than 40% of the actions that we take in a single day are out of habit.
Think about that for a second…GREATER than 40% of the actions you take are out of habit! You do them by default.
You did them because you did them before. When you command your cadence, you facilitate your habits.
The second point about why commanding your cadence is critical is it protects your priorities.
Life comes at us. Life circumstances inevitably will derail us.
If we don’t have a cadence, we’re going to become aimless. We’re going to drift off course from our purpose. You can be listless in life but having command of your cadence actually serves you to get back on track towards your purpose.
Here’s a couple application questions to think about this weekend & into this next week:
👉What priority in my life do I need to command its cadence?
👉Who do I admire in life that I can learn one new cadence from?
As you reflect on those questions, begin to take command of your cadence. When you do, you will begin to live life on purpose. Your body will change for the better, your relationships will change for the better, your finances will change for the better, your sense of inner peace & health will change for the better.
As you become purpose driven, you will live a more FULL & MEANINGFUL life. Remember, you are in control of your cadences in life. What are you going to choose?
oxox Coach K
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, CrossFit, & adapting a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & personal life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
I get that question from folks all the time, in person & online, when asked to give advice about getting in shape, protecting energy, & preventing self sabotage.
I lay out a really simple, low-maintenance approach. It’s true — I don’t put much effort into all this health & fitness stuff. What I do, I do week-in, week-out, though. And it all starts with self awareness, self love, & frankly, not giving a f*ck what other people think or do.
So yes, over several decades, I have put in A TON of effort in total. It’s taken over 10 years to build the body y’all see today. But day-to-day, not so much. BECAUSE I’ve made it a lifestyle. I eat plenty of food (around 2000 cal/d on avg) & still enjoy occasional social alcohol in moderation.
I want you to look & feel fabulous as you get older, too, so strap yourself in for a typical, really low-maintenance week for me (that you can copy or use as inspiration) that helps me stay lean & healthy as an empath at 40.
Mapped out my daily routine here just for you in this IG post!
I Train for 5 Hours a Week, Tops
“Ah but you’re a nutritionist & single & have no kids, you can work out all the time if you want to?!”
Yeah, I could…but why the f*ck would I want to?
I’ve been working out for 30 years — believe me, the novelty wore off long ago. Nowadays, workouts are like vacuuming for me — a necessary thing I need to get done so things don’t get messy & I feel my best. We all wanna look good nekkid too!
I workout out for 4-5 sessions of 40–60 mins a week [depends if I get side-tracked by that work thing or extracurricular activities between sessions 🙂 ] Every muscle group gets hit with a wee dose of damage because I am too damn old to waddle around for days after some hardcore leg day or CrossFit workout. Upper body push/pull days & lower body glute/leg splits. Schedule varies with work schedule.(Routines, guides, & resources in link in IG bio)
I Walk 15k Steps/d As A Target
Walking Is a True Health Hack. I have no desire to run at a medium pace for an hour or do hours of CrossFit WOD’s a day anymore, messing up my joints & hormones. If I need to get somewhere 5 miles away, I’ll drive. Thanks.
But I do plenty of brisk walking — 15k steps per day is my target. This has enormous payoffs on several levels:
Low-impact stamina-building.
Vitamin D for hormonal balance cuz I walk outside in the sun.
Clears my head & energy like nothing else does.
Torches tons of calories per week.
Takeaway for You
If you hate a particular exercise, please don’t force yourself to do it — there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Walking is fantastic. Also, I have no idea how many calories cat skinning burns <opens Google>.
I Take & Use a Few Things To Thrive
You can easily find yourself taking handfuls of pills & powders daily because you think they’ll magically solve all your problems. They won’t if you don’t have your foundational success routine in place first. If you’re eating a varied & healthy diet (for YOU) & exercising, you don’t need to supplement with much at all.
There are a few things I take & use that help me thrive. You can find these along with discount codes in the link in my IG bio & highlights.
If you’re taking tons of shit, do an audit & ask yourself, “What happens if I stop taking this?” If the answer is “nothing,” then save your $$
I Eat 2 Meals & Nothing I Don’t Like
I want to maintain my weight while eating enough to build a wee bit more muscle if I can. This means I aim to eat at my maintenance level in total each week. Use the TDEEcalculator.net to find yours.
I do what works for me, which is a form of intermittent fasting every day in windows that suit my work & social schedule.
coffee & plenty of water + Ultima Replenisher electrolytes
a big breakfast of protein & healthy fats after my walk or workout in the morning
a smaller meaty meal mid-late afternoon
fast overnight until the next day usually 12-18 hrs. No snacking
throw in occasional a large OMAD (one meal a day) on days I work a 1st shift & then a 3rd shift or if I’m just not as hungry
I don’t eat kale — it’s gross. I don’t eat veggies, fruit or fiber because I can’t break them down due to my Crohn’s disease(my whole story is documented in the link in my IG bio & highlights). Carbs & sugar I have a really shitty relationship with so I abstain. I don’t eat any food “because it’s healthy”, I eat what healthy food I like because I like it.
Takeaway for You
Start with the healthy foods you like. Base meals on those. Keep protein high for muscle retention & satiety. Avoid trigger foods, sugar, & junk.
Post workout breakfast. 1.25 lbs of *0% ground beef #meatbars Airfry. 380. 12 minutes. Did not consume the fat in the bottom of the airfyer to make it leaner.
click for guide here
My Weekends Are Never A Shit Show
You could get in great shape if you gave up sugar, alcohol, & junk food & ate only grilled chicken & broccoli for meals for 12 weeks straight. But you’d also hate life & everyone around you, & after 12 weeks, you would probably binge off the rails.
80-90% for Health. 20-10% for Flexibility
Instead of quick fix, masochistic approaches to dieting, we can lose body fat & stay lean intentionally managing calories & eating healthy foods the majority of the time, say Monday to Friday, or 80-90% of the time, meaning things like:
High protein breakfasts (eggs, bacon, sausage, etc)
High protein lunches/dinner (meat, seafood, eggs, etc)
No-minimal sugar & snacks between meals (2-3 meals/day)
Intermittent fasting overnight (12-16+ hours) Do what works for you as far as eating windows.
Use carbs (fruit, veggies, oats, rice, etc) intentionally. Typically the more active, the more you tolerate. If they cause issues mentally & physically, you may do better abstaining.
If you like weekend/social flexibility, use wisely.
Takeaway for You
Controlling your weight long term: control portions & eat your protein. Remind yourself what makes you feel your best mentally & physically.
Health & Fitness Tips As An Empath
Tips that have helped me to eat well, stay fit, & release negativity before self sabotaging & over eating:
Minimize Sugar & Processed Food As Much As Possible: Although you may crave carbs & sugar (as well as alcohol), they will destabilize you mentally & physically. This makes you more susceptible to absorbing unwanted energy & self sabotaging. These kinds of hyperpalatable foods are like drugs, leaving you wanting more.
Prioritize Protein: Protein stabilizes everyone. It gives a sense of grounding & satiation. Get protein at every meal, at least 30g. Big reason many food addicts thrive, lose weight, & heal on carnivore.
Rest: Sleep. Solitude is your best friend to energetically rest & reset. Go take a restorative walk in nature.
Eat Alone & Mindfully: most of us empaths need to avoid outside energy & distractions when eating. It allows us to have full presence, chew thoroughly & savor our food which helps us feel true hunger & satiety cues. This aids in avoiding over eating & thus weight gain.
Manage Your Emotions, Time, & Energy: Managing your emotions actually frees up the energy you’re spending on things that do not serve you. Emotions are messengers. They alert you to boundaries being crossed. If you’re like I was, that is what made me want to stuff my face with donuts, cookies, cake, chips, cereal, crackers, & ice cream & then throw it up. I was suppressing emotions & giving my time & energy to everyone else. UNTIL I realized that self loathing & sabotaging behavior meant staying sick, broke, & lonely AF.
Move Your Body: Walk, go to the gym, get out in the sunlight, connect with friends. We cope with stress, including loneliness, by using dopamine-triggering substances & behaviors as a means of avoiding painful emotions & self-awareness. But if we make a commitment to living a kick-ass life, then moving the body will get the dopamine flowing, reconnecting us to what we truly enjoy, like our friends & families. I will reiterate again, walking is a GODsend. If in doubt, go walk!
Final Thoughts
Most of adult life isn’t about finding new answers, but unravelling the web of misinformation we pick up over the years.
Here’s the truth about exercise & eating well — it’s a lot simpler than it sounds. The more you eat well & exercise, the stronger you’ll get, the better you’ll feel, and, the more you’ll enjoy it. Then it becomes you & your lifestyle.
When people ask my fitness regimen & I respond with “I workout 4-5x per week for 45-60 minutes & walk 15k steps per day.”…I get, “I could NEVER find time for that!” or “How long do you have to do this for? Are you losing fat or on a diet?”
I shake my damn head. Because, society has programmed us that exercise & eating healthy are short-term things to lose weight for an event or to fit into clothes – not a LIFESTYLE.
Like reps & weight, they’re merely tools to build a fulfilling life. On their own, they’re meaningless. I started counting intentional moments & habits. I no longer log hours of workouts a day, binge & restrict food from a place of self loathing, or find myself obsessed with chasing a smaller body. You can’t live a BIG life chasing a SMALL body on an EMPTY tank & TIRED soul.
oxox Coach K
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
