Welcome to this week's episode. I cannot believe how fast the year is going. Summer is coming so quick. Usually now is the time people start getting very serious about their summer goals for feeling really good in their body, whether that's weight loss or just shifting your body composition. Maybe you're bringing clothes out of your closet that you haven't worn in a while. We are talking about feeling your best this summer, feeling ready for summer, feeling good in your body without any sort of shame spiral, losing the self -sabotage and going to more self -support, stopping any of the shoulds, and what your body actually needs this summer. So we are talking summer wellness, peace, power, protein, all of the good things. to get you feeling really good in time for summer and through the summer.
So the first thing we are going to start with is sort of rethinking our mindset and the things that we usually do when we're like, I want to lose five pounds, 10 pounds, or maybe it's larger than that. more than that like honestly first get realistic about your goal and what is possible within a month within two months whenever you want to lose weight or transform your body you want to take a long -term approach and just because there's a very short amount of time until summer that doesn't mean that you can't start now
you want to lose weight or transform your body you want to take a long -term approach and just because there's a very short amount of time until summer that doesn't mean that you can't start now Feel a little bit better by the time summer gets here and then add in the habits that are going to support you year round.
It's always a great time to take care of yourself. And if summer being closer inspires you to take action, this is the episode for you. And now is the time to start taking action. So first, you don't need another list of what to stop doing. I think it's very, very easy to go through your day and be like,
through your day and
be like, well, I shouldn't be eating this. I shouldn't be eating this. I have to stop doing this. I should be doing this. We can add so much should to our life that it can create a lot of shame and even more resistance to actually doing what we need to do. So we're gonna start by just rethinking that and just acknowledging it and sort of recognizing it. And then instead of focusing this summer, instead of focusing on restriction, we are gonna talk more connection to yourself and to your body. So the first thing to ask yourself, if you're going through your day and you're noticing habits that don't align with your goals, maybe it's finishing food off your kid's plate in the evening, Maybe it's, you know, reaching for another handful of the rolled chili lime tortilla chips. I am guilty of all of these things, whether it's a few too many desserts at the end of the day,
few too many desserts at the end of the day, mindless chips in the afternoon. Maybe it is nightly wine that you're like, suddenly I've had two or three glasses every night and it's just become such a habit or part of a routine. That you're not even like finding that much joy from it. It's just like what you do. And instead of just telling yourself like, oh, I shouldn't be doing this. I'm going to have to give up this. And thinking about all the sacrifices you're going to have to make or the restriction you need to add in. I want you to pause before you pass that judgment on yourself and ask instead, why am I doing this? What am I feeling in that moment? Am I bored? Am I anxious? Am I depleted? Am I lonely? Am I burnt out? Am I tired? Is there something going on that I am trying not to feel? Because oftentimes there are feelings buried underneath that we are using food,
wine, dessert, sweets, cookies, whatever it is. to sort of fill in and to avoid like looking at those feelings.
And while it might work for a little while to just like willpower your way through and be like, okay, we're done with chips in the afternoon. I'm gonna have an apple instead. And yes, that might be a great strategy if you are hungry. And if that feels like this is what's happening, I will feel so much better having that apple and like peanut butter than mindless chips that never hit what I want them to hit.
Like ask yourself, what am I really craving? Is it more peace? Is it having more energy? Is it more connection to self, more connection to the people around me?
Is it more purpose? This is personally a big one for me when I'm feeling really purpose -driven and engaged in what I'm doing and connected. I just find I make better decisions all around. When I'm well -rested, I make better decisions all around. I'm kinder to myself. I'm kinder to others. When I am eating more purposefully, I just feel better and less mindless eating, just eating just because.
eating more purposefully, I just feel better and less mindless eating, just eating just because.
sneaks in.
And really at the foundation of being clear with yourself and asking yourself like,
being clear with yourself and asking yourself like, why am I doing this? Why am I making this choice?
versus I need to just stop doing it cold turkey cut it off right away the foundation of that is really like nervous system regulation and more peace in your body because lasting change doesn't come from willpower it comes from regulation when your body feels safe feel supported it's easier to say no to that extra glass of wine It's easier to choose a walk over just sitting and scrolling on your phone. It's easier to walk away from Netflix after two shows and be like, oh, that was enjoyable. Now I'm going to get to bed at a reasonable time. It's easier to prep your food instead of ordering out. All of these things are easier to do when... your body is at a state of calm,
safety, and support.
And this is the part we often skip.
skip. We often go straight to, I need to willpower it through. I just need to say no. I need to just cut it out. And while that might work for this summer and like a couple of months, You're going to be in the same place next summer if you don't take care of some of these deeper things inside of your body so your body can send a message of calm and safety and support to yourself.
And just a quick little aside, check the show notes because within a 21 -day return to self, the wait list is open down there, less than a cup of coffee a day, far less, especially if you're doing like Starbucks or something like that. And it is designed to get you feeling calm, more clarity, and deep self -trust. Like this is the foundation of everything, whether it... is creating more abundance manifesting in our life or changing the way you feel in your body and your body composition or your weight like this is the foundation so that is down there in the show notes as well as all of the other ways to work with me but continuing on from this foundation and getting to like the three must and what to actually put in place on top of this foundation we are building in accountability
top of this foundation we are building in accountability The number one thing that I hear from women that I work with is that they haven't been accountable to themselves and they just haven't been able to make it a priority. And this is your reminder, like you're not broken. Like you are able to show up and take care of yourself, but odds are you're overwhelmed. There is so much going on in your life. There are so many moving pieces that.
Taking care of yourself often just falls off the list entirely. So we want to create a structure that feels like support, not like punishment. Again, most of the diets that are designed to, or even if you think of 75 hard,
show up every day, check everything off, do it perfectly. And if you don't do it, punishment. And some days there might be days we're doing the thing. feels like punishment and not aligned with what you truly want. So we want to create a structure and a routine and a life and an environment that feels like support that doesn't feel like punishment to ourself. We want it to feel supportive to our body, to eat the foods that get us to our goals, not like punishment because we're never allowed to have ice cream again.
The biggest way to create structure that feels like support is blocking some time for yourself like doing the same things at the same time of day is a huge way to ensure that they get done having the foods in your house that you want to eat
ensure that they get done having the foods in your house that you want to eat
Consistently setting some boundaries for yourself, saying no to things that are going to overwhelm you or aren't going to align with your goals.
Keeping track of your food. Okay, so this one is so, can be so controversial. Tracking your food in a food diary like my fitness pal. But, and I don't love doing it always either. But if I can shift to just like, I'm just keeping track so I know where I'm at. Am I meeting my goals? Am I taking care of my body?
my body?
It is one of the top ways to really make progress on your goals.
of the top ways to really make progress on your goals. But again, if that feels like punishment, like if tracking your food in your mind is like, so incredibly terrible that it feels like punishment and it doesn't feel like support and knowledge and knowing what you're eating and you can't shift to get yourself there, then don't do it. You don't have to do it yet to your goals, but I will say get so much easier. But if it adds overwhelm, take it off, get off your plate.
When it comes to making things a priority, I will say little micro moments of stillness throughout the day, breath work, grounding, even if it's just at the end of a workout and you're stretching and you're just inhaling in and exhaling out, those all are going to support you with that nervous system regulation, that foundation piece. Taking care of yourself is not just something. you know, big, like a bubble bath or an hour long walk on the beach. It is found in those little moments. So make those little moments count. It's very easy to pick up our phone and scroll our phone.
But if you find you're always going there, like check in with yourself and figure out what you're feeling.
out what you're feeling.
So once you've tended to the foundation,
foundation, you know, your regulation of your nervous system, your awareness around what's going on and that sort of accountability piece, whether it's setting aside time for yourself, setting some reminders on your phone, tracking your food, maybe working with a coach, these next three pillars are going to be so much easier.
going to be so much easier. The first pillar that we want to add in is movement. Daily walks, even if it is only 10 minutes, if you're not doing anything now and you were to walk every day for 10 minutes, you're moving in the right direction. If it's longer, awesome. I have some clients that have days where they can sort of tag a workout.
of tag a workout.
Or actually, excuse me, a walk onto the end of their workday or their lunch hour or after they drop their kids off at school or right before they pick their kids up. And those all count. And then on the weekend, maybe they're going for a longer walk. So movement, walks, number one, add that in. Number two is strength training. The older we get, the more important it is to lift weights. The other day I was volunteering in my daughter's classroom and one of the moms was like,
and one
of the moms was like,
do you run? You must run. And I was like, no, it's like, I just really do weights and I walk.
And I'm trying to shift away from saying like, I don't like running. I'm trying to, because I feel like it's so important for cardio health. Maybe going to start trying to like jog or increase my cardiovascular endurance. But running is just not my favorite thing. And maybe you feel that way about strength training.
that way about strength training.
Step one, like notice that awareness about how you feel about doing the things that you know are going to move you closer to your goal.
that awareness about how you feel about doing the things that you know are going to move you closer to your goal. and then find a way to make it as easy as possible to do it. So strength training, there is so much information on the internet. There is YouTube with a variety of workouts. There is chat GPT where you could say, give me three days a week of a gym workout to build strength, emphasizing whatever parts of your body are emphasizing weight loss. And if it gives you workouts that you can't do or you don't have, say, tell them what equipment you have.
If you're looking for workouts where you just press play,
where you just press play, I have a whole lift library where basically there are four strength workouts a week that you could do or you could pair two of them together. So you could do three days of strength a week,
are four strength workouts a week that you could do or you could pair two of them together. So you could do three days of strength a week, one day of Pilates. Just to make it easy, you could join me live Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6 a .m. Pacific time.
If you find going to a class live in person gets you motivated to do the thing, go do that. There are so many options for strength training, but do make sure you're lifting weights. Do try to challenge yourself. You shouldn't feel at the end of your workout like I could have kept going.
could have kept going. after every single move.
The goal with strength training is to get stronger.
And I think sometimes as women, we focus so much on getting smaller that we fear if we get stronger, it won't coincide with feeling the way we want to feel in our clothes. When your body has more muscle mass on it, it makes it easier. Like one, it's just going to support your health and your longevity, aging process, bones, all of that. But also going to restructure your body composition to more muscle, less fat, which is going to give you that more tone defined look that you want. So movement is number one. Daily walks, any amount of time counts. and strength training at least three times a week. Try to lift some weights. If you're doing none right now,
make it two times. But I feel like sometimes when we start with more, it becomes more of a habit and we pick up that momentum and we just show up and do it. I always feel good after a workout, but there are days when I'm like... So struggling to start and having the live definitely helps me. But on days when I'm not doing a live and I'm going to the gym, doing my own thing, like just get yourself started is sometimes the most important part. So whatever makes it easy for you to get started, do that movement. Number two, food. This one should be obvious. We are focusing on three things when it comes to food. One, our calories. that sustain you. So we're not restricting calories so low that we're feeling really starving at the end of the day or we're overdoing it in that afternoon hour.
We're not overdoing it at night after the kids have gone to bed. We're not eating great meals, but then snacking so much in between that it's undoing all of our progress or we're eating consistently on the week and then calories are out the door on the window.
Did I say out the door on the window? Out the door on the weekend.
So your calories are there to sustain your muscles, your strength, your workouts. And they're at a slight, a moderate caloric. We're not going to all the way down to 1200 calories.
The easiest way to figure out what calories you need for your body is to just track where you're at. In MyFitnessPal, I wouldn't even enter in any goals because often when we enter goals and we go as quick as possible, it cuts them very, very low. But just start to see where you're at and be aware of how you feel in those calories.
And honestly, the more calories you feel like you're currently eating right now, just cutting them by a little bit every day and staying consistent is going to get your result. If you're already eating very, very few calories, then you might not have the space to cut them as low. So you're going to emphasize more protein and more fiber within those calories to make sure that the composition of them are supporting your goals. And you might feel more full, more satisfied on calories that are in a caloric deficit. So we want plenty of protein. Everyone, every woman should be eating at least 100 grams of protein.
Make that your minimum. From there, if you have a goal target weight and you want to try to eat that many grams, for example, if your goal weight was 150 pounds, You could try to eat 150 grams of protein. I'm going to say this is a harder goal to reach while being in a caloric deficit and while also maintaining foods that you enjoy. So maybe it's just seeing where your protein is at. Your minimum is 100 grams and then you're inching your way up. You're seeing can you get closer to the number of grams that equals your body weight. If your goal body weight, if you're shorter and your goal body weight. Is 130, 120, something around there, that might be more doable to get your protein all the way up there.
But minimum 100 grams of protein. Start noticing what foods you're eating have protein in them. Start seeing if there's a protein -rich option that you can choose.
Starting your day with protein, front -loading protein is an amazing way to go because it's very hard if you don't have any protein in your diet until lunch. So starting your day with some protein is going to help you feel full and satisfied and just help you meet that goal. And the third part of food is fiber.
So fiber is so important for supporting your digestion. It's giving your body so many of the nutrients that you need. It's found in a variety of foods. I'm not going to give you a list, but fruits, veggies, lentils, beans, I guess I am going to give you a list, guys. Lots of these foods have fiber. Raspberries are amazing. Avocados are amazing.
If you're tracking your food, start to notice I would change. And something I have all of my clients do is change from tracking sodium. to tracking fiber as one of my main nutrients. So you can see what foods you're eating that have fiber in them.
If you're not tracking your food though, I would just focus on having a fruit or a vegetable at every meal of the day. Or if you're not having them at every meal, maybe you have a snack with them, like at least three fruits or veggies a day. It's great for your gut health as well, your overall health. And when you're eating more foods with fiber, it's easier to be in a caloric deficit. So if you're not tracking foods at all, if that gave you the ick, you're still looking at food labels and you're focusing on foods with protein.
looking at food labels and you're focusing on foods with protein. You're focusing on whole foods with fiber. A lot of the foods with fiber don't have food labels because they are fruits and veggies. And the more of those you're eating in your diet, it's going to be easier to be in a caloric deficit. The last anchor that you want to put in is recovery. Sleep and stress reduction must be prioritized. Your body will struggle with change if it's constantly inflamed or exhausted. Not to mention it's very hard to eat at a caloric deficit if you're very tired because we crave more calories for energy. And the stress part, if you've already worked on that initial foundation of nervous system regulation and more peace in your body,
of nervous system regulation and more peace in your body, then you're also already working on reducing stress.
reducing stress.
So let this... podcast episode, be your reminder to kick off your summer of self -support.
Start with any of the mental shoulds that come to mind. And even sort of the idea that's out there and so prevalent, like summer doesn't require a smaller body to feel good. Honestly, if you did nothing else from this episode and you just worked on nervous system regulation and a calmer, more peaceful body, you will automatically feel so much better. And when you start on the inside and working from that deep place of feeling safe in your body, feeling supported in your body, every step to actually reach your goal or transform your body or lose weight, all of those steps between movement and nutrition and recovery, they all become easier because you're automatically going to do this from this anchored in place of self -support.
If there is one thing for you to do today is to ask yourself, what is one step that I can take today from a place of self -care, not a place of punishment, but just from that place of caring for myself?
myself?
And before you go, if this episode hit home,
hit home, if you're tired of trying to fix your body, you're ready to actually feel good in it this summer, next summer, years to come into the future, you're looking at longevity and health, as well as maybe ditching a few pounds, feeling more comfortable in your clothes, feeling stronger. I want to invite you to something deeper. My one -to -one transformation coaching is where we take this work. We personalize it to you.
This isn't a meal plan.
And just like toughing it out or willpowering it through.
it out or willpowering it through. It's really about support, creating a sustainable way to feel strong, peaceful, confident in your body. Together, we look at, you know, what's been holding you back in the past. how we can sort of unravel some of those habits and create a plan that's rooted in sustainability and long -term results to build in the habits that align with your best self and who you want to be and how you want to feel in your body. So links for transformation coaching, my Lyft library for workouts. and the waitlist of Within are all found in the show notes for ways to work together.
together.
I'm wishing you a beautiful week ahead and an amazing summer, and I will talk to you soon.
and I will talk to you soon.
