And that’s scary for all of us, but it’s ESPECIALLY frustrating when you’re wanting to commit to a healthier lifestyle but it honestly feels like you might have to take out a 2nd mortgage just to afford your grocery bill.

Is there really a way to eat healthy AND still keep your food budget in check?

I say yes, and today my goal is to prove it to you.

But I’ll start with the bad news first: eating healthy IS likely going to be more expensive than eating junk food or processed food. There’s just no getting around that. The healthiest, most nutrient-dense foods in the world—whole foods like high quality meat and fresh vegetables and fresh fish and dairy—those things are always going to cost more than a burger from the dollar menu or a bag of potato chips or a box of macaroni and cheese.

But here’s the good news: healthy eating doesn’t have to break the bank. 

Because honestly, the journey to lose weight and get healthy can be hard enough without the added pressure of trying to figure out how to afford it, right?  The effort it takes to start to change your habits, and the learning that is required to truly understand the science of what different foods are doing to your body and how it all affects your hormones, and then the mindset work that’s required to overcome food addiction and emotional eating and all the other stuff.

So maybe if we can make this one little piece feel more practical and doable, everything else will feel a little bit easier.

Even so, it’s important to know that success in this area is going to start with the stories you decide to tell yourself about money and whether it is actually worth it to invest in eating the right things.

Because, as our Thinlicious Physician Advisor, Dr. Edie Wadsorth, likes to say—you can either pay the farmer now, or pay the doctor later.

What you sacrifice now in order to make your health a priority WILL pay off in the long run. Ultimately, being healthy is MUCH more affordable than not being healthy.

But it might now feel like that in the moment.

And so changing the story that you tell yourself really is the first step.

But if you ARE ready to make healthy eating a priority in your life, then the really good news is that there are actually a lot of practical strategies you can use to keep costs down. So let’s dig in.

Actually Use the Food You Buy

So the first tip I have for you is probably a little bit obvious, but it’s something that I think most of us probably don’t do a very good job of, and that is to actually USE the food you buy.

I know that might sound kind of silly and basic, but honestly, I can’t even tell you how often I find myself cleaning out my fridge and throwing away food that has gone bad or that I forgot was in there or that I just didn’t get around to cooking in time.

It’s such a waste of money, and yet it’s something that so many of us do on a regular basis. In fact, food waste is a huge problem in the United States, with the average American throwing away between 20-25% of all the food they buy. And that’s just crazy to me, especially when so many people are struggling to put healthy, nutritious food on the table for their families.

And if this is something that you struggle with too, then I would say that the first step in saving money on your grocery bill is just to be more mindful and intentional about actually using the food you buy. That means planning your meals in advance, and making a shopping list, and only buying what you know you’ll actually eat. It also means being realistic about how much food you and your family can actually consume in a week, and not buying more than you need.

If you’re new to meal planning, then honestly, that’s probably the best place to start. Just take a little bit of time at the beginning of each week to sit down and plan out what you’re going to eat, and then make a list of all the ingredients you’ll need to buy. And then, of course, actually USE the food that you buy. Don’t let it sit in the fridge and go bad. And if you do have leftovers, make sure you’re actually eating them, and not just throwing them away.

And that might mean getting a little bit creative with how you use your leftovers. For example, I love to make big batches of roasted vegetables, but obviously we can’t always eat an entire tray of roasted veggies in one meal. So one of my favorite things to do is to use the leftovers for other meals throughout the week. I’ll throw them in a salad, or mix them in with scrambled eggs, or puree them in the blender and use them as a base for a soup. They’re such an easy and delicious way to add a lot of flavor and nutrients to a meal, without having to do a ton of extra prep work.

Shop Your Own Pantry and Freezer

The second tip have is to make a habit of shopping your own pantry and freezer first, before you head to the grocery store.

I know this one might sound a little bit obvious too, but it’s honestly something I didn’t used to do very well. I would always make a shopping list and then head to the store, and I’d buy all the things on my list, but then I’d come home and realize that I actually already had a lot of those things in my pantry or my freezer, I just didn’t remember.

It was such a waste of time and money, and it’s something that’s so easily avoidable. So now, before I head to the store, I always make a point to check my pantry and my freezer and see what I already have on hand. And then I try to plan my meals to use up as much of that stuff as possible, so that I’m not buying a bunch of extra ingredients that I don’t actually need.

And honestly, it’s amazing how much that simple little thing can save you, especially if you’re actually making an effort to eat down some of the things you already have on hand. For example, if you notice that you have a lot of frozen vegetables in your freezer, then you can plan to use those up for several meals in a row, or even for an entire week.

Or if you see that you have a lot of cans of tuna in your pantry, you can plan to have tuna salad for lunch a few times, or to make a big batch of tuna casserole for dinner one night. Or if you notice that you have a lot of chicken broth or vegetable broth, you can plan to make a few different soups throughout the week.

You get the idea. Just be more mindful of what you already have on hand, and make a plan to actually use that stuff up before you go buy more. It’s such a simple thing, but it can really make a big difference in how much you’re spending on groceries each month.

Shop the Sales (and Stock Up)

My third tip goes straight back to my days as an Extreme Couponer, where I learned the biggest secret of the grocery industry that very few people understand—EVERYTHING goes on sale, at least eventually! And not only that, MOST foods go on sale in a regular rotation, about once ever 6-8 weeks, on average.

That means that over time, if you are smart and strategic about WHEN you buy your foods, you can literally slash your grocery bill by as much as a third or more, simply by stocking up on foods you buy when they are on sale, so that you have enough to last you until they go on sale again.

Basically you make it your goal to always buy your food when it is at the lowest possible price—aka the rock bottom price—and then buy enough to last until it goes on sale again.

And if you’re already planning your meals around what you have in your freezer and pantry, like we talked about a minute ago, then this works out really well.  You basically have your own little mini-grocery store at home, already stocked with the foods you eat most, full of food you bought when it was at its cheapest.

You with me so far?

So let’s use an example to make this make sense.

Okay, so let’s say REAL butter is something you use a lot of, because well, we need more healthy fat in our diet, right?  But in case you haven’t noticed, real butter is EXPENSIVE these days!  I don’t know how much it is by you, but here in Florida it is something like $6 a POUND now for butter, which is just insane to me.

But every so often—every couple of months—butter goes on sale.  And here in Florida, we have a store called Publix, which is known for it’s weekly BOGO sales—buy one get one free.  So when butter goes BOGO, you better BELIEVE that we stock up like crazy, because we go through a LOT of butter.  Typically we will buy enough to last until the next time it goes on sale, and maybe even a little extra just in case, because we know we can just keep it in the freezer.

So instead of buying 2 pounds of butter to last the week, we’ll buy 16 pounds of butter at half off.  We only ever pay $3 a pound for butter.

And if the Challenge brand butter goes on sale, then we’re doing even better, because every box of Challenge butter has a coupon for $.55 off, which means that we can get each pound of butter for just $2.45, since you can use the coupon on the free item also.

$2.45 instead of $6 is huge savings, right?  And if you multiply that by 104, which is probably how many pounds of butter my family uses over the course of a year, you’re saving $369.20 on ONE ITEM.

Now think about how much you could save if you applied that same tactic to EVERYTHING you buy—meat, chicken, cheese, eggs, vegetables, dairy products…..It starts to add up pretty fast, right?

I promise you there is almost NOTHING you buy—even healthy, whole foods—that doesn’t go on sale at least once in a while, and more than likely goes on sale regularly. You’re just mostly buying it at the wrong time, right when you need it, instead of when it’s cheapest.

It’s basically just a different way of shopping. Instead of making your meal plan, then making your grocery list, then going to the store and buying what you need, your process looks more like looking looking at what you have on hand, making a meal plan to utilize as much of THOSE items as possible, then when you go to the grocery store, stock up on the foods you normally eat that are on sale.

And again, this might not feel like you’re saving a bunch of money in the short term, but over time, if you do this consistently, you’ll actually spend a lot LESS on groceries, as long as you’re actually using what’s in your pantry and freezer and not letting food go to waste.

Get Smart About Food Storage

My fourth tip for saving money on healthy food is to get smart about food storage. This may seem like a small detail, but it can actually make a big difference in the longevity of your food and how much you end up throwing away.

Properly storing food can help prevent spoilage and extend its shelf life, saving you money in the long run. And if you’re going to stock up on food items while they’re on sale, you should know how long certain foods will stay good, or whether you can freeze them. 

There are actually a ton of foods that can be frozen—even things like eggs and cheese and dairy, not to mention fresh vegetables and fruits. And if you’re not sure how to properly freeze something, a quick Google search can usually tell you the best method. 

Once you know which foods can be frozen and how to do it, you can start taking advantage of sales on those items and stocking up for later use. Just make sure to label your containers or freezer bags with the date so you know when they were frozen, and use the oldest items first to prevent waste. 

You may also want to consider investing in a vacuum sealer or quality food containers to help keep your food fresh and avoid freezer burn, and to get a 2nd refrigerator or freezer if you don’t have one.  Facebook marketplace is full of people giving them away for next to nothing!

Also, don’t forget to properly label and rotate your foods so that you’re using the oldest items first. By taking the time to properly store your food, you’ll not only save money but also ensure that your healthy purchases stay fresh and delicious for longer. Plus, it’s better for the environment too!

Go Straight to the Farm

My fifth tip is to skip the grocery store and go straight to the farm!

And by this I mean to try to buy as much of your food as you can from local farmers and farmer’s markets. Because the reality is that not only are the prices often a lot cheaper, but the food is also a lot better for you. The meat is usually grass-fed and pasture-raised, and the vegetables are usually organic and locally grown. And it’s usually a lot more fun to shop at a farmer’s market than at a big grocery store.

Many local farms will provide an option for buying a whole or partial cow that can provide months worth of high-quality meat.

Another great option, if you can find it, is a local farm that provides produce subscription boxes during harvest season. It’s not only a fun way to try fresh produce you might not normally think to buy, but it can also be super cost effective.

And I love knowing that the food we’re buying is not only delicious and healthy, but also locally grown and in season.

And honestly, that’s another great tip—try to eat as much in-season produce as possible. Because it’s usually a lot cheaper when it’s in season, and it’s also a lot better for you. Plus it just tastes better!

And speaking of in-season produce, another great way to save money is to GROW YOUR OWN.

Because honestly there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to walk out your back door and pick your own fresh herbs and vegetables. And honestly, it’s a lot easier than you might think. Just start with a few herbs in pots on your patio, and then maybe a few tomatoes or cucumbers or zucchini. And then you can always expand from there.

And if you don’t have a yard or a lot of space for a garden, then consider joining a community garden or starting a vertical garden on your balcony. There are so many options!

So getting ultra local, whether it’s your own mini-farm or one close by is a great way to get the freshest, healthiest, and most nutrient dense food out there at a fraction of what the grocery stores charge.

Cook in Bulk

My final tip is not only a money saver, but a time saver too, and that is to cook in bulk.

I love recipes that can be doubled or quadrupled and then frozen for when you need them.  In fact, back on Living Well Spending Less, I did an ongoing series called 10 Meals in an Hour where I provided meal plans, shopping lists, and instructions that would allow you to whip up 10 easy, budget and freezer friendly meals in about an hour.

After I started Thinlicious, I adapted many of these tried-and-true recipes to be much healthier, and if you’re looking for inspiration, you can find most of the healthier versions on the Thinlicious website, including our Pesto Chicken, Greek Chicken, Sloppy Joes, Coconut Lime chicken, Pulled Pork, Honey Dijon Chicken, and our Pot Roast, just to name a few.

It’s a great option for when you find a great deal on chicken or ground beef or pork and want to have something on hand for busy nights when you might be tempted to just order takeout.

When I find chicken on sale I also love to do a big batch on the grill, then let it cool and slice it up to have on hand for soups, salads, casseroles, or just a quick snack.  It freezes great too, and you can always heat it up quickly in the oven or air fryer.

I also love roasting up a big batch of vegetables to keep on hand—these freeze great, and are perfect for adding to frittata, casseroles, or just heating up in a pan as an easy side dish.

Honestly I could probably keep going for hours, because as you can probably tell, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and that I’ve been teaching on for a very long time.

But hopefully after today, you at least have a few ideas to get you going on lowering your food costs.

Because while I’m not going to deny that the price of food has gotten a little bit crazy, I also believe that it’s more than possible to eat well while sticking to a budget.

And I also believe that your health is worth it.

Got any money saving tips of your own to share?  Please leave them below!

The post 6 Simple Ways to Save Big Money on the Healthy Food You’re Not Sure You Can Afford appeared first on Thinlicious.

And while you might have some big goals and resolutions in mind, the reality is that aspirations without an actual plan aren’t going to get you very far.  You need to know how you’re going to take action, because that’s what is ultimately going to get your head in the right place.

Why You Need a Plan

So let’s start by talking about why you really need a plan.

Because I think that for a lot of us—especially those that have struggled with our health and weight for a long time—we have this idea that we should just be able to fix it all on our own, right? That we should be able to eat healthy and lose weight without having to follow some specific program.

And I totally get that. I’m a pretty independent person, and the idea that I would need to rely on someone else’s “system” to get healthy would normally kind of make me bristle a little bit. I like to be in control. I like to do things MY way.

So I can totally relate if that’s how you’re feeling. But the cold hard truth is this:

If you could have fixed it on your own, you already would have.

Seriously.

If all it took to get healthy and lose weight was to eat less and exercise more, then NONE of us would be overweight in the first place. That’s the old conventional wisdom that has been drilled into our heads for decades, and it’s a LIE.

It’s a lie that’s been propagated by the giant food industry and by pharmaceutical companies and by a medical system that makes more money the sicker we all are. It’s a lie that’s backed up by the USDA and the American Heart Association and by so-called “experts” who are paid millions of dollars to keep telling us the same thing—to eat more carbs and less fat and to move more and count our calories.

And it’s a lie that has made us SICK.

So if you’re feeling frustrated, and like you’ve been lied to, well, then you should be. Because you HAVE been lied to.

The Importance of having a proven process

And I think that’s why it’s so important to have a plan—a REAL plan—that’s not based on any of that old conventional wisdom, but is instead based on the TRUTH. A plan that’s based on understanding the science of what’s really happening in your body. A plan that’s based on the REAL data.

So that’s the first reason why I think having a plan is so important. Because you need something that WORKS, and that will actually set you up for success. You need a plan that’s sustainable and that you can stick with long term, because honestly, if you’re just going on a diet—a temporary fix—then as soon as you go back to the way you were eating before, you’ll end up right back where you started.

And that’s why the plan you choose needs to be something that is a true LIFESTYLE plan, not just a diet. It needs to be something that you can actually see yourself doing for the rest of your life, because honestly, it’s likely that you will need to, or at least something very close to it.

So that’s the first reason why having a plan is so important—you need a plan that actually works for your body, and that is sustainable long term.

The Importance of Accountability

But there’s another reason too—a big reason—and that’s because when you have a plan, it’s a lot easier to stay accountable.

Because the truth is this—the best laid plans in the world won’t do you a lick of good if you don’t actually follow the plan.

And that’s where accountability comes in.

Because if you’re anything like me and the thousands of women I’ve worked with in my programs, then you’re probably really good at lying to yourself.

You’re good at making excuses. You’re good at saying you’ll do it tomorrow. You’re good at avoiding the scale. You’re good at justifying the little “cheats” you allow yourself. You’re good at making yourself believe that it’s not that bad.

And when you don’t have a plan, or if your plan is just some vague idea of “eating healthier” without any real structure, then it’s way too easy to just keep on doing what you’ve always done. It’s way too easy to keep on making the same mistakes, and the same bad choices, because there’s nothing in place to keep you on track.

And that’s why having a plan with some built in accountability is so important.

Having actual numbers and metrics to track, and clear guidelines for what those numbers should be, actually does make a big difference. It lets you know you’re making progress. But it also gives you cold hard facts, rather than just feelings. And honestly, it shouldn’t just be ONE number because that one number isn’t going to tell you the whole story.

Because it’s a lot easier to justify it in your head, or to say “it’s not that bad” when you don’t really know the number. But when you SEE the actual numbers that are having an impact—your macro breakdown, your glucose reading, your body measurements, and the number on the scale—it’s a lot more motivating, and it’s a lot harder to make excuses.

That’s why having a plan that includes some built in accountability–and actual metrics to keep track of–is so important.

The Importance of Purpose

And then there’s a third reason why having a plan is so important, and it’s a little bit more intangible, but I think it’s probably the most important one of all.

And that’s just the fact that when you have a plan, it gives you something to focus on. It gives you a goal to work towards. It gives you a reason to keep going, even when it gets hard. It gives you a sense of PURPOSE.

And for a lot of us, that’s what’s been missing.

Because when you don’t have a real plan, then you’re just kind of going through the motions every day, and it’s easy to get off track. It’s easy to get derailed. It’s easy to let life get in the way. It’s easy to give up.

But when you have something that you’re working towards, it changes everything. Suddenly, every choice you make becomes important. You have a reason to say no to that donut, or that sugary margarita or that Chik-fil-A drive through on your way home from work. You have a reason to get up and go for a walk. You have a reason to change your habits.

And that’s why having a plan is so important.

Because a plan really is just a way to set some GOALS, and to create a roadmap for achieving those goals, and that is what will keep you motivated and on track.

Creating Your Health Plan

So then the question becomes, how do you actually go about creating a health plan that will work for you and your life?

And the truth is, that’s a pretty big question.

Because there are a lot of factors to consider. You need to figure out what your goals actually are, and what you want to achieve. You need to figure out what kind of plan will work best for your body and your lifestyle. You need to figure out if you have any underlying health issues that need to be addressed. You need to figure out what kind of support you’ll need, and what you can actually afford.

And all of that can feel a little bit overwhelming, especially if you’re brand new to this whole world of health and wellness, and it all feels a little bit foreign.

Do your research

So I think the first step is really just to do your research.

And honestly, that’s probably why you’re here, reading this blog post. Because you know that you need to make a change, and you want to know what your options are.

And that’s a good thing! It’s a really good thing to get curious and to start learning more. It’s a really good thing to start educating yourself on what is actually available to you, and what might be the best fit for you.

And if you’re just starting out on this journey, then I would say don’t get in a big rush. Give yourself a little bit of time to read books and listen to podcasts or other blogs to get a sense of the different programs and plans that are out there, and to start thinking about what might be the best fit for you.

Because the truth is, that while there are a lot of options out there, not all of them will be a good fit for YOU. We are all unique, and what works for someone else might not work for you, and vice versa.

And so that’s really the first step—to get curious and to start doing your research, and to start learning as much as you can about the different options that are out there.

Get honest with yourself

And then, once you’ve done that, I think the second step is to get honest with yourself about what you’re actually willing to do.

Because the reality is this—if you choose a program that’s not sustainable for you, then you won’t be able to sustain it. It’s why I always say that the best program in the world is the one that you’ll actually DO.

You have to be honest with yourself about what you’re willing to change, and what you’re not. You have to be honest with yourself about the kind of support you’ll need, and the kind of support that is actually available to you. You have to be honest with yourself about what you can actually afford, and what you’re willing to invest in your health.

And I know that for some of you, that might be a sticking point. You might be thinking this all sounds so great, but I can’t actually afford to sign up for a program or to get help or to buy new supplements or whatever it might be.

So can I just address that for a second?

Because honestly, I think that if you’re in that boat, then you’re not alone. I think a lot of us feel that way, like it’s too expensive to get healthy, and it’s a big reason why we’re often willing to just keep on doing what we’ve always done—because it feels FREE.

But the cold hard truth is this—it’s not actually free.

You’re paying for it. Every single day, in big ways and small ways, you’re paying for your health. You’re paying for all the medications you have to take, and the doctor’s visits and the medical tests. You’re paying for the days you have to take off work because you’re too tired to even get out of bed. You’re paying for the bigger clothes you have to buy, and all the food you’re wasting because you can’t eat it fast enough. You’re paying for the impact that your weight and your health is having on your relationships, and for all the opportunities that you’re missing out on because you don’t have the energy or the confidence to do the things you want to do.

It’s not free.

So you have to get honest with yourself, and ask yourself what’s actually more expensive—to keep on doing what you’ve always done, or to invest in your health and in a program that can actually help you get healthy and lose weight in a sustainable way.

Because the truth is, that doing it on your own and without a plan probably won’t work. You’ll just keep on doing what you’ve always done. And the only way to get different results is to do something different.

Commit to making a real change

And so once you’ve done your research and you’ve gotten honest with yourself, the third step is really just to commit. To make a decision, and to actually get started.

Because here’s the thing—you can keep on researching and keep on learning and keep on thinking about it for as long as you want, but if you never actually make a decision, then you’ll never actually get started, and nothing will ever change.

And that’s a shame.

So once you’ve done your research and you’ve gotten honest with yourself, then I want to encourage you to make a decision and to get started.

And that might mean signing up for a program like the Thin Adapted System. Or it might mean finding a local doctor who can help you with a more sustainable, not-some-crazy-diet-plan. Or it might mean finding a health coach. Or it might mean just changing the way you shop and cook and eat, and doing more of your own research on how to do that in a way that will actually be good for your health.

The path you choose is ultimately up to you, but I think that the most important thing is just to choose a path and to actually start walking on it.

Aim for Consistency, Not Perfection

And once you’ve done that, once you’ve actually made a decision and gotten started, then the final and most important step is just to commit to CONSISTENCY—not perfection.

Because the truth is, changing your health and changing your life is not a destination, it’s a journey. It’s something that you have to commit to working on every single day. It has to become a priority. It has to become a habit. It has to become a part of your normal routine.

And honestly, that can feel really hard, especially at the beginning. Changing your health can feel overwhelming, because there is so much to learn and so much to do and so much to change.

But the key to getting through that overwhelm is to just focus on taking it one day at a time, and to focus on forming good daily habits and disciplines that will help you stay on track.

Because the reality is that you won’t be perfect, because no one is.  And so if you set yourself with the expectation that you have to change everything all at once and that you have to do it all perfectly or you’re not going to do it at all, then you are setting yourself up for failure.

And I say this all the time, but it’s worth saying again and again, as many times as it takes—big goals NEVER happen all at once—they are only the result of small steps taken consistently over time.

If you truly want to be successful in reaching your weight loss goals and getting healthy for life, then allow yourself the time to make changes that you can stick to.

Don’t go crazy trying to drastically cut your calories AND start going to the gym AND drinking all the water AND cutting out alcohol AND taking all the supplements and and and…

Because often that’s what we do, right?  We try to do it all, and we try to do it all at once, and we set ourselves up for failure with a crash diet that’s not even a little bit sustainable.

So just don’t do it.

Don’t crash and burn this January.

Let this be the year you embrace progress over perfection.

Let this be the year that you make sustainable changes you can build upon.

Let this be the year you finally get a handle on this piece of your life.

Reading this blog post is a great start.  So keep reading.

And if you haven’t already, go watch our helpful on-demand video—Happy, Healthy & Free in 2024.  It’s really good, and will help you actually map out your own personalized health plan for the next 12 months.  You can find it HERE.

Here’s to you, and to having a real plan to crush your health goals in 2024.

The post The Magic of Making a Plan for Your Health (And How to Set Yourself Up for Success) appeared first on Thinlicious.

Because frankly, it’s easy to fall off the wagon over the holidays, isn’t it? Between all the yummy comfort food and the neighbors delivering home baked goodies every 10 seconds, and the calorie-laden cocktails and even the emotional eating that tends to rear its ugly head this time of year, it’s not hard to find yourself going totally off the rails.

Or maybe you just intentionally chose to give yourself a break during the busy holiday season, knowing you could pick up where you left off come January. Honestly, that’s pretty much the approach I took this year because I knew that in this crazy season of life I’m currently in, good enough was just going to have to do.

But now, with the holidays almost behind us, I’m ready to start thinking about the NEXT season, and that’s exactly what I want to talk about today—how to actually KEEP moving forward, even when we have those moments of setback or those times when we feel like we’re totally off track.

Embracing the Journey

But before we dive into all of that, I think it’s really important to just acknowledge ONE thing about this journey towards better health, and that is this—it’s a LIFELONG journey. It’s not something that has a finish line, or a specific destination.

It’s not something that you can ever really be “done” with. And in a lot of ways, it’s not even something that’s always going to be linear, where you’re always moving forward and always making progress. And I think that’s something that we often forget, especially when we’re feeling super motivated and making a ton of progress really quickly.

It’s almost like we think that if we could just get started and get some momentum, then we’ll be able to reach our goals and then we can go back to doing what we were doing before. We think that if we can just lose those 10 pounds, then we’ll be good. Or if we can just get through that sugar detox, then we’ll be able to go back to eating the way we were. Or if we can just get through the first month of exercising every day, then we’ll be able to go back to just sitting on the couch and watching Netflix. Or whatever it is.

But that’s not how this works. If you want to actually create lasting change in your life, then you have to be willing to change your life. And I know that might sound a little bit scary—like it’s going to require a lot of effort and energy and that you’re going to have to give up all of the things you love and start doing a bunch of things you DON’T love.

But the reality is that it’s often just the little things—the small changes that we make to our daily habits and routines—that have the biggest impact on our health and our waistline. And it’s also the little things that start to slip up and get us off track.

This isn’t a journey that has an end point, and it’s not a journey where you can just do it for a little while and then go back to what you were doing before. It’s a journey that requires you to be consistent with the things that actually work for your body—the things that make you feel good and healthy and energized.

So that’s the first thing I want you to understand. This is a journey—a lifelong journey—and it’s the little things that matter most, both in moving you forward and in setting you back.

How to Give Yourself a Fresh Start

So with that in mind, how do you start fresh when you feel like you’ve gotten off track?

Well, like everything in life, it mostly comes down to MINDSET—changing the thoughts that ultimately dictate your actions. But at some point, of course you do also have to change your actions as well, right? 

So let’s talk about a few strategies that can help you start fresh and get back on track.

Stop Beating Yourself Up

The first strategy is to simply STOP beating yourself up and start practicing self-forgiveness. Because the reality is that we are often our own worst critics, and we tend to be a lot harder on ourselves than we would ever be on anyone else.

And what ends up happening is that we get caught in this cycle of self-sabotage and negative self-talk that just KEEPS us from moving forward. We tell ourselves things like “I’m so undisciplined. I’ll never be able to lose this weight. I always mess things up. What’s wrong with me?”

It’s almost like we think that by beating ourselves up and making ourselves feel as terrible as possible that somehow we’ll be motivated to change. But that’s not how it works. Because the more negative and critical we are of ourselves, the more likely we are to just keep REPEATING the same patterns of behavior that got us off track in the first place.

So the first thing you have to do is to literally just STOP the negative self-talk and start giving yourself more grace. And I know that might sound a little bit easier said than done, but I promise you that it’s a PRACTICE. It’s something that you have to intentionally CHOOSE to do, over and over again, until it becomes a HABIT.

Because the more you can focus on the positive and give yourself credit for the things you’re doing well, the more you’ll start to believe that you’re actually CAPABLE of change, and the more likely you’ll be to keep moving forward and making progress. And the reverse is also true—the more you beat yourself up and focus on all of the things you think you’re doing wrong, the more likely you’ll be to keep repeating those same mistakes.

So that’s the first thing—to simply stop focusing on all the ways you’ve messed up and instead forgive yourself enough to move forward.

Reconnect With Your WHY

The second strategy for getting back on track is to reconnect with your WHY. And I know I’ve talked about this on the podcast before, but it’s so important that I’m going to keep talking about it over and over again. Because honestly, this is the ONE thing that I see make the BIGGEST difference in people’s ability to actually achieve their goals and stay consistent with their healthy habits.

When things are going well, and you’re feeling motivated and seeing progress and getting results, it’s so easy to stay committed and stay on track. But then as soon as you hit a roadblock or a setback, or you have a few days or weeks where you’re not seeing as much progress or not feeling super motivated, it’s easy to lose sight of WHY you wanted to make these changes in the first place. And so you just kind of give up.

So that’s why it’s so important to have a really clear understanding of your WHY—of your big picture vision for your life, and what you want to be able to do and FEEL, and what you DON’T want to have to deal with anymore.

You have to connect with the EMOTIONAL reasons WHY this is so important to you, and why you’ve decided that you’re no longer willing to just stay where you’re at. Because when you have a strong enough WHY, then the HOW will always reveal itself. And when you’re feeling stuck or like you’ve gotten off track, you can always come back to that WHY and use it as your motivation to keep moving forward.

So if you’re feeling stuck right now, or worried about getting your momentum back, then I want to challenge you to take a few minutes to really reconnect with your WHY. Go back and listen to some of the early episodes of this podcast, or read some of the books that really inspired you to get started on this journey in the first place.

And if you don’t have a clear WHY yet, then take some time to really think about it and get it down on paper. Because I promise you, that will make SUCH a big difference in your ability to actually keep moving forward.

Just Start. Right Now. Imperfectly.

And once you’ve done that, then the next step is to just START. To take some kind of action, no matter how small or imperfectly, in the direction of your goals. And I know that might sound like a super simple and obvious thing, but it’s honestly where so many of us get stuck.

We wait until we’re feeling super motivated or until we have a big chunk of time to really dive in and get started. Or we keep telling ourselves that we’re just going to wait until Monday or until January 1s or until after the kids go back to school, or whatever.

But the thing is, the longer you wait to take action, the harder it’s going to be to actually get started. Because that’s when you start to build up this story in your head about how impossible it is or how you’ll never be able to do it or how you’re too far off track.

And you start to lose that little bit of momentum that you DO have. So my advice is to literally just start—to take some kind of action, no matter how small, in the direction of your goals. And that might mean something different for each of us, depending on what our specific goals are.

But I’ll give you a few examples.

If your goal is to get back on your weight loss plan, then just start right now by drinking a big glass of water and actually tracking your food intake today. Or just start by actually reading your food labels today and paying more attention to what you’re eating. Or if you’ve gotten off track with working out, then just start taking a 10 minute walk around the block. Or if you’ve been feeling really stressed and overwhelmed and like you’ve lost your focus, then just start by taking 15 minutes to do a brain dump and get all of your thoughts and to-do’s out of your head and onto paper.

Because here’s the thing—even the SMALLEST action in the direction of your goals has the power to create MOMENTUM. And once you have that momentum, it’s so much easier to keep moving forward and taking bigger and bigger steps. It’s like the old saying—a body in motion tends to stay in motion.

And the same is true for taking action in your life—once you get started, it’s so much easier to keep going. But the opposite is also true—the longer you wait to get started, the harder it will be to actually take that first step.

Create an Action Plan

So now that you’ve started and you have some momentum, the final strategy I want to talk about is creating an action plan. This doesn’t have to be anything super elaborate or overwhelming—it’s simply a way for you to map out what needs to be done in order for you to achieve your goals.

And again, this will look different for each of us based on our specific goals, but the key is to break it down into smaller, manageable steps.

And honestly, I think that’s where it is SO HELPFUL to have an actual program or proven process to follow. Obviously the one I recommend is our Thin Adapted System—AKA TAS—because it literally shows you how to implement everything I recommend in a super methodical, easy-to-follow, step-by-step way.

Our program works in four phases that are all designed to help you heal your body from the inside out—to reverse insulin resistance, heal your gut, and balance your hormones FOR LIFE so that you actually CAN take it easy over the holidays and never once feel guilty about indulging, because you know your body is now what we call metabolically flexible, and it will all be okay.

And if you want help creating your 12 month action plan for this coming year, then I strongly, STRONGLY encourage you to check out our FREE on-demand training video that we have available for you right now, which will not only help you map out your plan, but explain exactly how our program works and how it can help you reach ALL your health goals.

It’s called Healthy, Happy, and Free in 2024, and once again—it’s an on-demand video that is totally free to watch. You can find it HERE. And I promise you’ll thank me later.

The post How to Start Fresh with Your Weight Loss Plan and Get Back on Track in the New Year appeared first on Thinlicious.

Like no matter how much you want to eat healthier or get serious about losing weight, there’s always something that’s holding you back? And maybe that something isn’t even logical or rational, but it’s something that feels so much bigger and stronger than you that it’s literally impossible to resist.

And so you end up in this vicious cycle where you vow to do better and cut back and stay on track, only to find yourself right back at square one, feeling like an utter and complete failure because you just don’t have the willpower to stick with it.

The truth is that emotional eating affects so many of us, whether we want to admit it or not. And honestly, I feel like it’s kind of the elephant in the room with weight loss and healthy eating. It’s the thing that no one wants to talk about, but that honestly has such a huge impact on our ability to actually see results.

What is Emotional Eating?

So let’s start by talking about what exactly emotional eating is. Because the reality is, we all have emotions, and we all eat. In fact, eating is one of the most basic ways that we celebrate or find comfort or enjoyment in our lives.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The problem is that when our emotions start to control our eating habits in a way that isn’t healthy or beneficial for our bodies, then that’s when it becomes an issue.

So what exactly is that issue?

Well, at it’s most basic level, emotional eating is eating in response to feelings rather than hunger. It’s when you use food to soothe or manage your emotions, or to fill a void that isn’t related to actual hunger. It’s when you turn to food for comfort or as a way to deal with stress, anxiety, sadness, or even happiness.

And honestly, that can take a lot of different forms. For some people, emotional eating looks like eating a whole pint of ice cream when you’re feeling sad. For others, it’s reaching for the chips and salsa, or baking a whole tray of cookies. And for others still, it’s the mindless grazing or snacking that happens when you’re bored or lonely, or just feeling overwhelmed.

But at the root of all of it is that emotional connection that we have to food, and to the act of eating, and the way that it makes us feel.

And honestly, it’s not all bad, right? There are a lot of good reasons to love food, and to enjoy eating. Food is a big part of our culture, and our families, and our social lives. It’s one of the ways that we celebrate, and connect with each other, and find joy in our lives.

But the problem comes when that emotional connection to food starts to take over in a way that isn’t healthy.

Why Do We Turn to Food for Comfort?

So why does that happen? Why do we turn to food for comfort in the first place?

Well, like I said, we all have emotions, and we all have to eat. And so it’s not really surprising that at some point those two things start to intersect. It’s like a perfect storm of necessity and desire.

But I also think that it’s really important to understand that it’s not necessarily a character flaw on your part. It doesn’t mean that you’re weak, or that you have no willpower, or that you’re just not trying hard enough.

In fact, the reason that so many of us struggle with emotional eating is because it actually does serve a purpose. It does actually help us to feel better, at least in the moment.

That’s because when we eat certain foods—particularly those that are high in sugar and carbohydrates—it triggers a release of dopamine in our brains. And dopamine is that feel-good chemical that makes us experience pleasure and happiness.

So when we’re feeling sad or stressed or overwhelmed and we eat a whole pint of ice cream or an entire bag of chips, it literally does make us feel better. It literally does give us a temporary high.

The problem, of course, is that it’s just that—temporary. And so we keep going back for more, and more, and more, in an effort to keep that high going. And then we end up feeling guilty and ashamed, and the cycle just starts over again.

But it’s not just the dopamine that makes us turn to food for comfort. There’s also the fact that for a lot of us, food is a big part of the way we were raised. It’s the way our families celebrate, and connect, and find joy. And so it’s literally hard-wired into us from an early age.

And then there’s the fact that, at least in the moment, it actually does work. It does make us feel better, even if it’s just for a little while.

So it’s not surprising that we turn to food for comfort. It’s not something that’s wrong with us. It’s just that, at some point, we have to recognize that in the long run, it’s actually not helping us.

How Emotional Eating Sabotages Your Weight Loss Efforts

And that’s because emotional eating, while it may bring temporary relief, actually ends up sabotaging your weight loss efforts in a lot of different ways.

For starters, if you’re turning to food for comfort, then chances are pretty good that you’re not making the healthiest choices. And that’s especially true if you’re eating the same high-carb, high-sugar foods over and over again.

But even if you are eating healthier foods, it’s still a problem. Because the reality is that when you’re eating to soothe your emotions, you’re not eating because you’re actually hungry. And that means that you’re probably eating a lot more than you actually need.

And then there’s the fact that when you’re eating to deal with emotions, you’re not paying attention to what you’re eating. You’re not savoring the flavors or enjoying the experience. You’re just shoveling food in your mouth. And that means that you’re not actually giving your brain a chance to register that you’re full.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, emotional eating also tends to happen at the worst possible times—late at night, or when you’re already tired, or when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed. And so not only are you eating more, but you’re also eating at the times of day when your body is least able to process all of those extra calories.

And all of that means that, in the long run, you’re going to gain weight. Or at least have a really hard time losing it.

So if that’s the case, then it might be worth asking yourself a few questions. Like, why does this happen? And why do we keep doing it, even when we know it’s hurting us? And what can we actually do to change it, without just relying on willpower alone?

What Causes Emotional Eating?

Well, like I said, I think the first step is in understanding what actually causes this to happen.

And as I see it, there are a few different factors that all play a role.

The first is just that food is such a big part of our lives and our culture. It’s literally everywhere. It’s in every celebration and every holiday. It’s part of every social gathering. And it’s the way we’ve been taught to comfort ourselves and our families for generations.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, there are a lot of really great and positive aspects to our connection to food. But it also means that it’s something that’s always there, and always so readily available.

And then there’s the fact that, for a lot of us, our emotional connection to food starts at a pretty young age. I know for me, a lot of my best memories from childhood revolve around food. And I think that’s true for a lot of people. It’s what you were given when you got a good grade on a test, or when you were feeling sad or lonely, or when you were celebrating a special occasion with your family.

And so that emotional connection to food is something that gets hard-wired into us from a really young age. It’s something that’s so deeply ingrained in our brains and in our hearts that it’s literally become a habit.

And as we all know, breaking a habit is hard, because it means having to actually retrain our brains to think and behave in a different way.

But it’s not just about the emotional connection to food. The fact is, when we eat certain foods—especially those that are high in sugar and carbohydrates—it triggers a release of dopamine in our brains. And dopamine is that feel-good chemical that makes us experience pleasure and happiness.

So when we’re feeling sad or stressed or overwhelmed and we eat a whole pint of ice cream or an entire bag of chips, it literally does make us feel better. It literally does give us a temporary high.

And the problem, of course, is that it’s just that—temporary. And so we keep going back for more, and more, and more, in an effort to keep that high going. And then we end up feeling guilty and ashamed, and the cycle just starts over again.

But it’s not just the dopamine that keeps us coming back for more. Because the reality is that sugar is also highly addictive. In fact, studies have shown that it can be just as addictive as cocaine or heroin. And so when we’re eating a lot of sugar, it triggers those same cravings that addicts experience when they’re trying to quit.

And the problem is that a lot of the foods we tend to turn to for comfort—the foods that are so deeply ingrained in our culture and our memories—are also the foods that are highest in sugar and carbohydrates. Things like ice cream and candy and cookies and soda.

So it’s like the perfect storm of all of these factors coming together—our deep emotional connection to food, the dopamine release that makes us feel good in the moment, and the highly addictive properties of sugar and carbohydrates.

And then, of course, there’s the fact that so many of us are dealing with a lot of other emotions and stressors in our lives that make us more likely to turn to food for comfort. Things like depression and anxiety, or a job that we hate, or a relationship that’s falling apart, or even just the everyday stress of raising a family or trying to keep it all together.

All of those things wear us down and make us more likely to turn to food as a way to cope.

So it’s really not all that surprising that so many of us struggle with this.

How to Overcome Emotional Eating

But the good news is that there is hope! And that’s because there are a lot of different things that we can do to actually change our behavior and overcome emotional eating, once and for all.

And like I said, it’s not just about willpower or trying to “white-knuckle” your way through it. Because the reality is that relying on willpower alone is never going to work, at least not in the long run. You have to actually change the way you think and feel about food, and about yourself, and about your own ability to change your habits.

So with that in mind, here are a few tips for how to actually overcome emotional eating and start taking control of your own health and weight loss journey.

Tip #1: Start by Understanding Your Triggers

The first step in overcoming emotional eating is to start by understanding what your triggers actually are. In other words, what are the things that are causing you to turn to food for comfort? What are the emotions or situations that leave you feeling more vulnerable and more likely to make unhealthy choices.

For a lot of people, these triggers might include things like stress, or loneliness, or boredom. For others, it might be sadness or anger or frustration. And for others still, it might be something like anxiety or even just the need to feel in control.

But the more you can start to understand what your triggers are, the better equipped you’ll be to actually deal with them in a healthy and productive way, instead of just turning to food.

And that’s why I think journaling can be such a powerful tool for overcoming emotional eating. It allows you to keep track of your thoughts and feelings in a way that lets you gain a little bit of distance and perspective, so that you can start to see patterns and understand what’s actually happening.

So if you don’t already have a journaling practice, I would definitely recommend starting one. And it doesn’t have to be anything fancy—just grab a notebook or a blank piece of paper and start writing down whatever comes to mind. Write about how you’re feeling, or what happened that day, or just random thoughts and ideas.

And then use that as a way to start identifying your triggers, so that you can start coming up with strategies for how to deal with them in a healthier way.

Tip #2: Find Healthier Ways to Cope

And that actually brings me to my second tip, which is to find healthier ways to cope with your emotions and stress, instead of just turning to food.

Because the reality is that food is not actually the problem. It’s just a symptom of the problem. It’s the thing that we’ve been trained to use as a way to cope, because it’s so easy and so accessible and it actually does make us feel better—at least in the moment.

But there are also a lot of other things that can make us feel better, in a more sustainable and healthy way. Things like exercise, or taking a walk outside, or listening to music, or dancing, or practicing deep breathing or meditation. Or even just talking to a friend or taking a hot bath.

There are literally so many things you can do to help yourself feel better in a more healthy and productive way. And so the more you can start to identify those things and incorporate them into your life, the better off you’ll be.

And that’s not to say that you have to completely give up your favorite foods forever and always. That’s not the goal. The goal is just to start finding other ways to cope and deal with your emotions that aren’t always centered around food.

So the next time you find yourself feeling stressed or overwhelmed, instead of reaching for the potato chips or the pint of ice cream, try going for a walk or doing a few jumping jacks. Or even just taking a few deep breaths. I think you might be surprised at how much better it makes you feel.

Tip #3: Make Sure You’re Eating Enough

And then my third tip for overcoming emotional eating is to make sure you’re actually eating enough food throughout the day. Because a lot of times, we’ll turn to food as a way to cope because we’re actually just really hungry and our bodies need nourishment.

But when we try to restrict our food intake too much or stick to strict diets that leave us feeling deprived, it’s only natural that we’ll turn to food as a way to cope. Because our bodies are just trying to tell us that they need more fuel.

So if you’re constantly feeling hungry and deprived, try taking a look at your eating habits and make sure you’re actually giving your body the nutrients it needs throughout the day. This might mean adding in some healthy snacks or including more satisfying meals that incorporate a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats.

Honestly, I think that’s probably the one thing that makes our TAS program SO effective. There’s no deprivation. There’s no counting calories—like EVER. It’s just eating the RIGHT foods that will balance your hormones in the right way. But you can eat as much as you want or as you need to. Without one bit of guilt.

And that’s pretty huge.

Tip #4: Be Kind to Yourself

And then last but not least, be kind to yourself. Overcoming emotional eating is not an easy journey and there will likely be setbacks along the way. But that’s okay. It’s all about progress, not perfection.

So REMIND yourself of that. All the time. No matter how far you’ve come or how many setbacks you have. You’re doing the best you can and that’s all anyone can ask for.

And when those moments do happen where you find yourself turning to food for comfort, instead of beating yourself up about it, try to show yourself some kindness and understanding. Acknowledge your feelings and then move on. Don’t let one slip-up derail your entire progress.

Remember, you are not defined by your eating habits. You are so much more than that. So keep going, keep trying, and be kind to yourself along the way. Because ultimately, that’s how you’ll find success in overcoming emotional eating—by showing yourself love and compassion, even in the hardest of moments. 

Final Thoughts

Emotional eating is a common struggle for many people, but it’s important to remember that you are not alone. By understanding your triggers, finding healthier ways to cope with emotions, ensuring you’re eating enough, and being kind to yourself, you can start to overcome this challenge and build a healthier relationship with food.

And just know that it takes time and effort. It won’t happen overnight, but with persistence and self-compassion, you can make progress towards a better and happier you. So keep going and never give up on yourself. You are capable of overcoming emotional eating and living a more fulfilling life. Trust in your journey and trust in yourself. And remember to always prioritize your mental and emotional well-being above all else.

Sending love and support on your journey towards a healthier relationship with food. You got this!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Overcoming Emotional Eating (Without Resorting to Willpower Alone) appeared first on Thinlicious.

It’s not actually your fault.

The reality is that most major food companies are actively working to make their foods as irresistible and addictive as possible. And that’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s fact. They’ve been doing it for years, and they’re REALLY good at it.

In fact, they don’t even try to hide it. There’s a reason Lay’s potato chips confidently touts the slogan “Betcha can’t eat just one.” They’ve actually tested it.

But the thing that makes it even scarier is that we are often willing participants in our own demise. Because we love our comfort foods.

Because honestly, I think MOST people have absolutely no idea just how bad processed food is for their health—that it’s literally killing us and making us sick.

We’ve been CONDITIONED to believe that certain foods are “normal” and “healthy” when in fact they are anything but. We’ve been brainwashed by a multi-billion dollar food industry that benefits from our ignorance and our addiction to their products.

What is food addiction?

But for the sake of clarity, let’s back up just a little bit and start by defining just what we mean when we say “food addiction.”

Food addiction is a term used to describe a condition where a person becomes dependent on certain types of foods, and feels compelled to eat them, often in large quantities, despite the fact that they know that those foods are harmful and contributing to their overall poor health. This addiction is often the result of changes that occur in the brain when a person consumes certain types of highly processed foods.

In fact, studies have shown that certain foods can actually trigger the same reward centers in our brain as drugs and alcohol, and that these changes in the brain can lead to cravings and a compulsion to eat those foods, even when we know we shouldn’t. And that’s because when we eat these foods, our brain releases “feel good” chemicals like dopamine, which is often referred to as the “pleasure hormone.”

So in a lot of ways, food addiction is not all that different from other types of addiction. We are literally getting a “high” from eating certain foods, and our body and brain get hooked on that high.

And so it becomes a vicious cycle. We eat these foods, our brain releases dopamine and rewards us for it, and then we want to eat more. And more. And more. Even when we know we shouldn’t. Even when we know it’s making us sick. We just can’t stop.

And if that sounds familiar, then you’re not alone. Food addiction is a real thing, and it affects millions and millions of people. In fact, a 2018 study of the global burden of disease estimated that over 86 million people in the United States alone are currently living with some form of food addiction.

That’s a LOT of people.

And it’s also a really big problem, because it means that there are SO many of us out there struggling with this issue every single day. And it’s not just the struggle of trying to lose weight, or even the physical toll that these highly processed, toxin-filled foods are having on our bodies. It’s the shame and the guilt and the self-loathing that so often comes with addiction, no matter what that addiction might be.

Because the truth is, it’s SO easy to look at someone who is 100 pounds overweight and say, “well, they just need to stop eating so much and start exercising.” But if that person is dealing with food addiction, then it’s not that simple. You can’t just tell an alcoholic to stop drinking, right? But that’s so often what we do with people who are struggling with food addiction. We tell them it’s their fault, that they’re weak, that they just need to exercise some self-control.

But it’s not that simple.

Because it’s an ADDICTION. And our brain is literally being rewired to CRAVE these foods. It’s not just a matter of willpower or lack thereof. It’s a real, diagnosable condition.

So, if you think you might be struggling with food addiction, or if this issue resonates with you in any way, then the very first thing you need to do is be KIND to yourself. Recognize that this is a real issue, and that it’s not something that you can just “get over” with a little bit more self-control. You need to get to the root of the problem and start addressing it in a real way.

How food addiction affects our health

But what IS the root of the problem? In other words, what is actually happening in our bodies that is causing us to get addicted to these foods and making it so hard for us to stop eating them? What is food addiction DOING to us, and how is it affecting our health?

Well, as it turns out, it’s affecting us in a lot of ways. Because these highly processed, sugar-filled, chemically-laden foods that we’re getting addicted to are basically poison for our bodies. They are literally killing us, slowly but surely. And it’s not just our waistlines that are at risk.

Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disease, leaky gut syndrome, chronic inflammation, depression, anxiety, hormone imbalance, and so many other health issues we face as a society today can all be traced back to our addiction to these highly processed foods. So in that sense, our food addiction is actually contributing to a whole host of other health problems.

And it’s not just the food itself, but all the chemicals and additives that go into these processed foods. Because so many of the ingredients that are used—things like high fructose corn syrup and white sugar and vegetable oil and artificial flavors and colors—are not only highly addictive, but also highly toxic to our bodies.

And so we’re essentially filling our bodies with poison, and then wondering why we don’t feel good, or why we’re getting sick.

And then there’s all the SUGAR. Because as we’ve talked about before on this podcast, sugar is in EVERYTHING. And it’s highly addictive. In fact, some studies have shown that sugar is even MORE addictive than cocaine. And that’s because, just like other addictive substances, sugar triggers the release of dopamine in the brain, which causes the pleasurable sensation that we then become addicted to.

And this is a really big deal, because sugar is in SO many of the foods we eat, even the ones we don’t necessarily think of as being sweet. It’s in our bread and our pasta and our salad dressing and our ketchup and our yogurt and our granola bars and our soda and our “healthy” fruit juice. And so we’re eating it all the time, without even realizing it. It’s inescapable.

And that’s what’s so scary about food addiction. It’s not just that we’re getting addicted to a handful of foods that we can then avoid. It’s that we’re getting addicted to SO many of the foods that make up the Standard American Diet. The foods that are literally everywhere. The foods that are considered “normal” and “healthy.” The foods that we grew up eating and that we’re now feeding to our own kids.

We’re literally passing down our addiction to the next generation.

And that addiction is having a devastating effect on our collective health as well as on the health of our children. Childhood obesity is at an all-time high, and type 2 diabetes, which used to be called “adult-onset diabetes” because it was so rare in kids, is now being diagnosed in children as young as 8 years old.

This is a problem, you guys. A HUGE problem. We have to start taking it seriously.

But the problem is, it’s an ADDICTION. And recognizing that it’s a real addiction is the first step in being able to do something about it. Because if you were addicted to alcohol or drugs, the very first thing you would have to do is GET CLEAN. You would have to stop putting those substances in your body.

And that’s also true of food addiction. You have to quit eating the foods you’re addicted to.

It’s not easy. But it is POSSIBLE.

How the food industry is making us addicted

But before we talk about HOW to do that, let’s talk a little bit about how the food industry is actually making us addicted to their products in the first place—because it’s not just some random accident. They’ve been doing this for years, and they’re really good at it.

Basically, the food industry has a SECRET WEAPON that they use to get us hooked on their products, and that secret weapon is something called the “bliss point.”

But what exactly IS the bliss point? Well, it’s the perfect combination of sugar, fat, salt and other flavors that make a food taste SO good that we literally can’t resist it. It’s the reason why that bag of potato chips is so hard to put down, or why you can eat an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in a single sitting, or why you just can’t say no to that slice of chocolate cake, even when you’re so full you feel like you might explode. It’s the reason why certain foods are so incredibly addictive.

And the food industry knows this.

In fact, they’ve been studying the bliss point for years, and they spend BILLIONS of dollars every year to figure out how to make their products as addictive as possible. They hire food scientists and flavorists to create just the right combination of flavors and textures that will keep us coming back for more.

They even use something called “mouthfeel technology” to figure out how to make a food feel just right in our mouth, so that we get that perfect sensation of crunch or creaminess or whatever it might be, that will make us want to keep eating.

It’s crazy! And it’s SO sneaky.

But it doesn’t stop there. Because the food industry also knows that in order to keep us addicted to their products, they have to make them as convenient and accessible as possible. And that’s why you’ll find highly processed, addictive foods literally EVERYWHERE you go—from the grocery store to the gas station to the corner coffee shop to the vending machine in your office building.

They’re everywhere.

And then there’s the marketing. Because the food industry spends billions of dollars every year to market their products to us. And not just in commercials and on billboards, but in the grocery store itself. They know all the tricks to get us to buy more. They know that we’re more likely to buy something if it’s at eye level than if it’s on the bottom shelf. They know that we’re more likely to buy something if it’s brightly colored or has a happy face on the box. They know that we’re more likely to buy something if we can try it first.

It’s all a big game, and we are the pawns.

So what can we do about it?

So what can we do about it? How can we break free from this addiction and start taking control of our own health? How can we fight back against a multi-billion dollar industry that’s literally been working for decades to keep us hooked on their products?

Well, the first thing we have to do is acknowledge that it IS an addiction. We have to recognize that we’re not just dealing with a lack of willpower or self-control. We have to be kind to ourselves and understand that this is a real, diagnosable condition that requires a real solution.

And then we have to make a choice. We have to decide that our health is more important than that next hit of dopamine. We have to decide that we’re worth it. That our kids and our grandkids are worth it.

And then we have to take action.

Because as I said before, the first step in overcoming any addiction is to STOP putting that substance in your body. You have to GET CLEAN.

You have to quit eating the foods you’re addicted to.

And I know that’s a whole lot easier said than done. I know because I’ve been there.

I’ve been the girl who used to eat a full bag of Doritos in one sitting without even thinking about it. The girl who would go out of her way to drive to the store just so I could buy that ice cream. The girl who would literally hide the empty containers in the bottom of the trash can so my husband wouldn’t see how much I’d eaten. The girl who was so addicted to sugar and processed food that I couldn’t even go a single day without it.

And I’ve also been the girl who had to go through the withdrawals. Who had to suffer through the headaches and the irritability and the intense cravings that come from detoxing your body from all that garbage. The girl who had to learn how to cope with stress and sadness and all the other emotions that I used to numb with food.

It wasn’t easy. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

But it was SO worth it.

Because I was able to break free from that addiction. I was able to get clean and stay clean. And now, more than 10 years later, I can honestly say that I am no longer addicted to food. I can take it or leave it. I can go for days and days without eating anything processed, without eating anything that’s not good for my body, all because I know how much better I feel when I make the right choices.

And that’s what I want for you too. I want that freedom from addiction. I want you to be able to make the right choices for your health, not just once in a while, but all the time. I want you to be able to enjoy your life without constantly having to think about food. I want you to be able to break free from the hold that the food industry has over you and your health.

So let’s talk about how to do that—practically, how to start taking those steps towards overcoming your food addiction and breaking free from the hold that the food industry has over you.

Step 1: Educate yourself

The first thing you need to do is start educating yourself. You need to understand just how bad these highly processed, sugar-filled, chemically-laden foods are for your health. You need to understand how they’re affecting your body and your brain, and why they’re so incredibly addictive. You need to understand what’s at stake—not just your waistline, but your overall health and well-being. You need to understand that this is a real, diagnosable condition that requires a real solution.

And honestly, if you’re listening to this podcast, then you’re already doing a good job of that. So keep it up. Keep listening. Keep learning. And if you need more information, then I would encourage you to go watch our free training, Healthy, Happy & Free in 2024, which is all about understanding the science behind what’s making us fat and sick, as well as the best way to actually get healthy and lose weight in a way that’s sustainable long term.

So educate yourself. Arm yourself with knowledge. Because knowledge really is power.

Step 2: Get accountable

The second thing you need to do is get accountable. You need to find someone or something to help you stay on track—someone who can support you and encourage you, but also someone who can call you out when you’re headed for trouble.

And this could be a lot of different things. It could be a friend or a family member who is willing to do this with you. It could be a coach or a trainer or a doctor. It could be an online support group—in fact, we have a super active Facebook group for this podcast that you are welcome to join. Just search for Thinlicious or Health Rebel on Facebook and request to join, and then you can get access to a whole bunch of other like-minded people who are working to improve their health and lose weight.

Or it could even be a system—something like our Thin Adapted System. Because the great thing about having a system that works is that it gives you a roadmap to follow, and that roadmap makes it easier to stay accountable. It’s something that you know has worked for other people, and so if you just do the work, it will work for you too.

Regardless of what or who you choose to keep yourself accountable, just make sure that they are someone or something that is positive and supportive. We don’t need any more negativity in our lives, especially when we’re trying to overcome addiction.

Step 3: Make a plan

Now that you’ve educated yourself and found your accountability partner or system, it’s time to make a plan. A solid, actionable plan that will help you break free from your food addiction and take control of your health.

This plan should include things like setting goals for yourself—both short-term and long-term ones. It should include making small changes to start off with, so you don’t feel too overwhelmed. It should also include finding healthier alternatives to your trigger foods, and learning how to deal with cravings in a healthy way. And most importantly, it should include setting yourself up for success by creating a supportive environment—both physically and mentally.

Remember, this plan doesn’t have to be perfect or set in stone. It can evolve as you do and as you learn what works best for you. The key is to have a plan in place, so that when you’re faced with temptations or challenges, you know exactly what to do.

Step 4: Take action

Knowledge and planning are great, but they mean nothing if you don’t take action. This step is all about actually implementing your plan and making those changes in your life.

It’s not always going to be easy. There will be days when you slip up and give in to your cravings or old habits. But that’s okay. Take it one day at a time and keep moving forward. Every small step counts, and over time, they will add up to big changes.

And remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Lean on your support system and reach out for help when you need it. And most importantly, be kind and patient with yourself throughout this process.

Step 5: Celebrate your progress

Finally, don’t forget to celebrate your progress! No matter how small or big, every step towards overcoming your food addiction is worth acknowledging and celebrating.

Take some time to reflect on how far you’ve come and the positive changes you’ve made in your life. Reward yourself for your hard work and dedication. And use this as motivation to keep going and continue making progress towards a healthier, happier you.

Remember, breaking free from food addiction is not an easy journey, but it’s one that’s worth taking. So stay educated, accountable, and have a plan in place. Then take action and celebrate your progress along the way. You’ve got this! Now let’s go out there and take back control of our health from the sneaky food industry! 

The post The Sneaky Way That Food Companies Keep You Addicted (And What You Can Do About It) appeared first on Thinlicious.

It’s frustrating right?  Especially because high quality sleep is VITAL to good health—to repairing your cells and regulating your metabolism.

Unfortunately poor sleep is a more common problem than you might think. In fact, research shows that 1 in 3 of us aren’t getting enough sleep on a regular basis, and that is likely having a huge impact on your health and well-being.

Because the truth is that if you’re not sleeping well, it’s not just your energy levels that are suffering. It’s not just that you’re a little bit tired. It’s not just that you need a little pick-me-up in the morning.

It’s that your ability to function and feel your best is being severely compromised. It’s that your mental clarity and focus are suffering. It’s that your emotional health is being affected. It’s that your weight loss efforts are being derailed. It’s that your risk for chronic disease is going way up.

So that’s why I want to spend today talking about exactly that—about sleep, and the impact it has on our health, and the simple changes you can make to make sure you’re getting the best sleep possible.

Because the reality is that if you’re on a health journey, and especially if you’re trying to lose weight, then you need to know that sleep and weight loss are connected. They’re inextricably linked. You can’t really address one without the other. And trying to lose weight without also focusing on improving the quality of your sleep is pretty much a recipe for disaster.

So let’s dive in, and talk about why exactly sleep is so important, and what you can do to make sure you’re getting enough of the right kind of sleep every night.

Why Sleep Matters

So first things first—why exactly does sleep matter so much?

Well, it turns out that sleep is a lot more than just a way for our bodies to recharge. In fact, there are a whole host of things that happen to our bodies when we sleep that simply don’t happen when we’re awake, or that are severely impeded when we don’t get enough sleep.

For one, sleep is when our bodies are able to repair and regenerate. It’s when our cells are able to do the work of healing, and our hormones are able to re-balance. It’s also when our bodies are able to flush out toxins and other waste products—which is why a lack of sleep is often linked to higher risk of chronic disease, including heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Sleep is also when our brains are able to process and store memories, and when we’re able to go through our day and make sense of all the things that have happened to us. It’s when our brains are able to do all the important work of organizing and sorting, so that we can function at our best when we’re awake.

And finally, sleep is also when our bodies are able to regulate our blood sugar levels and our metabolism. In fact, a lack of sleep or poor quality sleep is often linked to insulin resistance and weight gain, because it throws off our hormones and makes it harder for our bodies to properly regulate energy.

So as you can see, sleep is pretty important. In fact, it’s SO important that the National Sleep Foundation actually calls it the “third pillar of good health,” along with diet and exercise.

And yet, it’s the one pillar that we all too often neglect.

The Consequences of Poor Sleep

So what are some of the consequences of not getting enough sleep or not getting good quality sleep?

Well, for one, it can have a big impact on our energy levels and our ability to function. If you’ve ever had a night of tossing and turning and then had to try to get through a full day of work or taking care of the kids, then you know just how debilitating that can be. And if this is something that happens to you on a regular basis, then you’re probably dealing with chronic fatigue, which can affect every area of your life.

A lack of sleep can also affect your mental health, leading to increased anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment. It can also make it harder for you to concentrate and remember things.

And as I mentioned earlier, poor sleep is also linked to a higher risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, and cancer. It’s also been linked to weight gain and obesity, because it throws off our hormones and makes it harder for our bodies to properly regulate energy. And if you’re on a weight loss journey, this is obviously a big deal.

So as you can see, the consequences of poor sleep are pretty significant. It affects every area of our lives, from our physical and mental health to our weight and risk of disease.

And that’s why if you’re serious about transforming your health and losing weight, then you need to start taking your sleep seriously.

Because the reality is that sleep and weight loss are inextricably linked. You can’t really address one without the other. And trying to lose weight without also focusing on improving the quality of your sleep is basically a recipe for disaster.

Because if you’re not sleeping well, then you’re making it a whole lot harder for yourself to actually lose weight. And you’re also missing out on all the other amazing benefits that come from getting good quality sleep.

So let’s talk about what you can actually DO to start improving your sleep, and why it matters so much for your health and well-being.

How to Improve Your Sleep

The good news is that there are a lot of simple changes you can start making to improve the quality of your sleep. And while it might not always be easy to break old habits, the benefits of better sleep are definitely worth it.

So here are 5 super simple changes you can make almost immediately—literally today—to start improving the duration and quality of your sleep.

1. Start taking a magnesium supplement. Magnesium is an incredibly important mineral that plays a role in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, including regulating sleep, and because of the changes in our modern diet, most people are now magnesium deficient. Just this one change can be a game-changer for your sleep. I recommend taking a highly absorbable form of magnesium, like magnesium glycinate, and taking it about an hour before bedtime.

2. Avoid caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 8 hours, so if you’re having trouble falling asleep, it’s best to avoid caffeine after lunchtime. And while alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it actually disrupts the quality of your sleep and can lead to frequent awakenings during the night. It’s best to limit alcohol consumption before bed or avoid it altogether.

3. Create a bedtime wind-down routine. Just like kids benefit from having a consistent bedtime routine, adults can also benefit from this. Set aside some time before bed to do some relaxing activities like reading, meditating, or taking a warm bath. This will signal to your brain that it’s time to wind down and get ready for sleep. A mineral bath with magnesium salts can be especially effective because you’re getting the added benefit of more magnesium to help with relaxation.

4. Avoid screens before bed. This is a big one but sometimes SO hard in our screen-obsessed culture. But it’s important to try, and here’s why: the blue light emitted from screens can suppress the production of melatonin, which is a hormone that helps regulate our sleep-wake cycle. So try to avoid using screens at least an hour before bedtime, or invest in blue light blocking glasses if you absolutely need to use screens close to bedtime.

5. Create a sleep-friendly environment. In the short term, this means making sure your bedroom is as dark, cool, and quiet as possible. But longer term, it might mean actually giving your bedroom a sleep-focused makeover by installing blackout curtains or an extra air conditioner to keep the temperature around 65 degrees Fahrenheit year round, or even getting a white noise machines. Oddly enough, research has also shown that sleeping in all white bedding can also improve the quality of your sleep. Pay attention also to the quality of your mattress, pillows, sheets and comforter. Considering that nearly a third of our time is spent in bed, it’s worth investing in the good stuff.

And while those are all changes you can make relatively quickly that could potentially have a big impact on the quality of your sleep, longer term you’ll also want to consider implementing some stress management techniques, getting regular exercise (but not too close to bedtime), sticking to a consistent sleep schedule, and changing your diet to avoid foods that can disrupt sleep.

Final Thoughts

In the end, sleep plays a crucial role in our overall health and well-being. And in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, it can be easy to neglect this aspect of our lives. But by making small changes and prioritizing good sleep habits, we can reap the many benefits that come from getting quality rest. So let’s start taking our sleep seriously and make it a priority in our lives for better health, weight loss, and overall happiness.

Sweet dreams! 

The post 5 Simple Changes You Can Make Right Now to Sleep Better Tonight appeared first on Thinlicious.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the simplest things can trip you up the most? One minute you feel like you’re rocking it, then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, something derails you and sends you spiraling backwards?

Why is that?

Believe it or not, often it comes down to our WORDS—literally our self talk, and the things that we say to ourselves.

Because let me tell you, the older I get, the more I realize just how much the words we use and the way we talk to ourselves actually have a profound impact on our beliefs and our mindset, and our beliefs and mindset are what ultimately shapes our actions—the things we do and the choices we make—which in turn shapes our results.

So, to put it in very simple terms, if you’re using the wrong words, you’ll get the wrong results.

And I can tell you this is something that’s true for me too. Even as a goal setting junkie who’s been working on my own personal development for years, I still struggle with this all the time. It’s a constant battle to be intentional with my words and with my thoughts, and not let them slip back into old patterns and old ways of thinking that have not served me in the past.

And it’s been a good reminder for me that this is something that we ALL need to be aware of and to work on, pretty much ALL the time.

Because honestly, it’s not always easy. Sometimes it feels like our brains are just hardwired to focus on the negative and to look for the problems. We’re hardwired for self-protection and self-preservation, and sometimes that means we’re constantly looking for what’s going wrong, or what’s going to go wrong, or what could go wrong.

And so we say things to ourselves like “I’ll never be able to do it” or “it’s just too hard” or “I’m always going to be this way” or “I’ve always struggled with this” or “I just don’t have the willpower” or “it’s just not meant to be” or “I’m just too busy” or “I don’t have enough money” or “I’m not strong enough” or “I’m not good enough.”

And while it may seem like those are just words, they are actually incredibly powerful, because every time we say something like that, we are reinforcing a belief, not only in our conscious mind, but also in our subconscious mind, which is where our actions ultimately stem from.

And it’s those actions—or lack of action—that will always determine our results.

But what if you could change that? What if you could change your words and change your results? What if you could start to be more intentional with your language and with your self-talk, and reprogram your subconscious mind to BELIEVE that you can achieve your goals?

Honestly, that would be pretty powerful, right?

And the good news is that it’s actually possible. But the first step is always awareness. You have to first recognize the words and phrases that are holding you back in order to change them. 

The 3 most dangerous words in your vocabulary

So, let’s start by talking about the three most dangerous words in your vocabulary, at least when it comes to losing weight and getting healthy. I’ll bet you’re probably using these words all the time without even realizing it. In fact, I pretty much guarantee it, because it’s something almost everyone says, and it’s something that’s become so common in our culture that we don’t even really stop to think about it.

And those three words are “I don’t have.”

Let that sink in for just a minute. “I don’t have.”

Have you ever said that before? I’m guessing that you probably have. Maybe you’ve said it out loud, but even if you haven’t, I’m guessing that you’ve probably said it to yourself in your own head.

“I don’t have enough time.”
“I don’t have enough money.”
“I don’t have enough willpower.”
“I don’t have enough energy.”
“I don’t have the right genetics.”
“I don’t have a supportive spouse.”
“I don’t have a good metabolism.”
“I don’t have the right resources.”
“I don’t have the ability to cook healthy food.”
“I don’t have the right gym equipment.”
“I don’t have a gym membership.”
“I don’t have the right tools.”
“I don’t have the right environment.”
“I don’t have the right education.”
“I don’t have the right support system.”
“I don’t have a good plan.”
“I don’t have the ability to stay on track.”

The list goes on and on and on and on. And while all of these things may FEEL true, the reality is that they are simply not true. In fact, they are all just excuses.

None of those things are actually true. But they FEEL true, because they’re the words you’ve been using to describe your situation for so long. They’re the words you keep telling yourself over and over again. They’re the words that have become so ingrained in your mind and in your belief system that you don’t even realize you’re saying them anymore.

And those words—”I don’t have”—are incredibly dangerous, because they’re incredibly dis-empowering.

They take away your power to change, because they make you believe that you’re stuck and that you have no control over your circumstances.

And the truth is that, while you may not be able to immediately change every single circumstance in your life, you ALWAYS have a choice in how you respond to those circumstances.

You can either choose to keep telling yourself what you don’t have, and keep getting the same results. Or you can choose to start telling yourself a different story, and actually get different results.

So the question is, if you’re using the words “I don’t have” and then following it with some kind of excuse, what are you really choosing for yourself? And is that the choice you want to make?

The power of reframing

But what if you could make a different choice? What if you could change your words, and change your outcome? What if you could start to re-frame your excuses and turn them into something empowering?

Well, you can. And it starts by changing just one word. Instead of saying “I don’t have” you can start saying “I won’t.”

“I won’t make time.”
“I won’t invest the money.”
“I won’t prioritize my health.”
“I won’t change my habits.”
“I won’t get off the couch.”
“I won’t cook healthy food.”
“I won’t take care of myself.”
“I won’t get help.”
“I won’t quit the sugar.”
“I won’t do the work.”

Because that’s the truth, right? You’re not actually doing those things. You’re choosing not to do them. And again, that’s a choice you get to make. But at least when you start to recognize it as a choice, you can start to ask yourself some important questions.

Questions like “why am I choosing this?” and “is this really what I want?” and “what would happen if I chose differently?” and “what do I stand to gain, and what do I stand to lose?”

And those are really powerful questions, because they force you to take a long hard look at what you’re really saying to yourself and the stories you’ve been telling yourself for so long.

And I think you’ll be surprised at what you find. I think you’ll realize that a lot of those excuses that start with “I don’t have” are really just fear in disguise. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of what other people will think. Fear of the effort required. Fear of losing the comfort and security of your current situation.

And that’s okay. Fear is a very normal emotion, and it’s something that we all have to deal with. But you don’t have to let it hold you back.

Once you realize that all of those “I don’t have” statements are just a choice, you can start to make a new choice. You can start to choose to acknowledge your fear, and then take action in spite of it. You can choose to be brave. You can choose to believe in yourself. You can choose to take small steps forward, even if you’re not 100% sure of the outcome.

And that is where the real magic happens—when you start to take action based on the new choices you’re making for yourself. Because every time you take action, no matter how small, it changes your momentum. It propels you forward. It gives you energy and confidence to keep going. It allows you to start reaping the rewards of your new choices.

And it all starts with the simple act of changing your words.

How to change your words and change your results

So, now that we’re aware of these three little words that have such a big impact on our ability to succeed—”I don’t have”—and now that we’ve talked about how dangerous and dis-empowering they can be, it’s probably worth taking a few minutes to talk about what to do next.

After all, awareness is only the first step. Once you’re aware of what you’re actually saying to yourself and the way those words are impacting your mindset, you can start to be more intentional in choosing different words.

So, how do you do that?

Well, honestly, it’s as simple as recognizing when you’re using those three little words and then making a conscious decision to choose different words.

For example, let’s say you catch yourself saying “I don’t have enough time.” Instead of saying that, you could say “this is not a priority for me right now.”

Or instead of saying “I don’t have enough money.” You could say “I’m choosing to spend my money on other things right now.”

Or instead of saying “I don’t have the right resources.” You could say “I haven’t found the right resources yet.”

Or instead of saying “I don’t have the right support system.” You could say “I’m choosing to not seek out a support system.”

And that might feel a little bit uncomfortable at first, because it forces you to take ownership over your own choices. But I promise you that it’s a lot more empowering than continuing to tell yourself the same old story.

And every time you catch yourself using those three little words and choose to re-frame your statement, you are taking back control. You are choosing your own path. You are telling yourself a new story.

And that, my friend, is where real change happens.

The post The 3 Words that are Holding You Back from Reaching Your Weight Loss Goals (and what to say instead) appeared first on Thinlicious.

There’s no other way to say it—mindset is everything.

And yet, when it comes to getting healthy or reaching your weight loss goals, we too often just try to focus on the PHYSICAL stuff right–eating the right foods, getting enough exercise, cutting the calories and tracking our steps and drinking all the water.

And then we wonder why so often, we fail.

But the reality is that your mindset is ultimately what will determine whether you are successful on this journey.  It is the only thing.  How you THINK about what you’re doing and what you’re eating and how you feel, and how you allow your THOUGHTS to play out will ultimately be the thing that makes all the difference.

And obviously that doesn’t mean we never talk about the food or what to eat and what not to eat, or the science behind our philosophy and how that all works from a very practical and logistical standpoint.  Obviously we do, and there are plenty of articles here on this site that talk about the nitty gritty details.

But in the end, it will always come down to your thoughts and to your mindset.

What is an Abundance Mindset?

So what exactly IS an Abundance Mindset?

Well, to put it simply, it’s an outlook or perspective on life that focuses on the idea that there is always enough–enough love, enough joy, enough resources–for everyone. It’s the belief that there is always more than enough to go around.

It means believing in yourself and your ability to create the life you want. It means trusting that you have everything you need within you to achieve your goals and dreams, and that any setbacks or challenges are just temporary roadblocks on your journey to success.

And specifically when it comes to health and weight loss,  having an abundance mindset means understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and that what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It means letting go of the all-or-nothing, black and white thinking that so often trips us up–the idea that if we can’t do it perfectly, or if we mess up, we should just quit or not do it at all.

So what’s the opposite of this?  A scarcity mindset, where we believe that there is only a limited amount of success and happiness to go around, and that if someone else achieves it, then there’s less for us. It’s the “not enough” mentality–not smart enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough.

And when it comes to health and weight loss, your scarcity mindset keeps you focused on everything you’re NOT getting, right?   Not enough treats, not enough carbs or fats, not enough fun and enjoyment. It creates a constant feeling of deprivation and restriction that’s nearly impossible to sustain long-term.

But when you shift your mindset from scarcity to abundance, everything changes. Suddenly, instead of focusing on what you’re NOT getting, you start to appreciate and be grateful for all the things you DO have. You start to see opportunities and possibilities instead of limitations and roadblocks.

Suffice to say, your mindset is everything.

How to cultivate an abundance mindset in your life

So what then?  How do you actually develop a better mindset and cultivate this idea of more abundance in your life?  How do you step out of that scarcity mentality and into abundance?  What are the actual practical things you can do? 

Because it’s hard to change your thoughts sometimes, especially when you’re stressed and overwhelmed.  But you have to try. Because you actually have a lot more control over how you think than we often realize.

So here are a few practical ways to start cultivating an abundance mindset:

Practice gratitude

The first is to start actively practicing gratitude in your life. And this is critically important, because we tend to see the things we allow ourselves to see.  And so, if we keep telling ourselves the world is bad and everything sucks and people are jerks and getting healthy means missing out on everything good in the world, then that is exactly what we will see.  All the time.  We’ll only get confirmation of the bad things, because that’s what we’re open to receiving.

But when you start intentionally practicing gratitude for everything around you, it changes everything!  It makes you open to all the ways the universe is actually working in your favor.  It makes you open to the miracles that are happening every day, all around you. 

So practice gratitude.  Make it a habit.  Take some time each day to intentionally think about and write down things you are grateful for. And I promise it will have a powerful impact on your life, and help shift your focus from what you lack to what you have.

Celebrate small wins

Along those same lines, the next way you can cultivate abundance in your life is to celebrate your small wins.  And this is especially huge when you’re on a journey to lose weight and get healthy, and it sometimes feels like it’s going SO SLOW, right?

But instead of waiting for a big success, or some magic number on the scale, celebrate the small victories along the way. Focus on the non-scale victories.  The little things.  And write them down.  Every day.  Overtime, this will help you see progress and feel more confident in your abilities, and open you up to how much progress you’re making.

Surround yourself with positivity

The next thing you gotta do is actually intentionally surround yourself with positivity.  And I can’t say enough about this either.  Because ultimately, garbage in, garbage out, right?  If you’re around negative people and negative energy all the time, that’s what you’ll start to pick up on.  If what you’re consuming online is negative and nasty, that’s what’s filling your head.  So take a break from it.  Take a break from all the bad news.  Take a break from the people who bring you down.

And instead, seek out a constant flow of POSITIVE energy in your life.  Spend time with people who have an abundance mindset.  Spend time with people who cheer you on and lift you up and encourage you to be your best self.  Spend time with people who refuse to focus on the bad.   And not only that, fill your head with good stuff.  Listen to podcasts that energize and inspire you, or audio books that motivate you.  Create a constant flow of positivity, and it will flow out of you.

Visualize success

And finally, it’s important to actually visualize success.  Our thoughts have so much power over us, and when we can actually allow ourselves to SEE in our mind the future that we want, it changes things. 

I actually just had this conversation with my daughter yesterday while we were driving to school, as she was getting ready for her cheerleader tryout. And I told her, “all day today you need to visualize yourself doing the routine, and doing it exactly the way you want to, because your thoughts are powerful.”  I don’t know if she actually listened, and as of this recording I don’t know if she made the team, but it doesn’t change the fact that our thoughts are powerful.

So imagine yourself achieving your goals and living your best life. Picture in your mind what you actually want, and visualize yourself having those things.  

I promise it will keep you motivated.

Final Thoughts

It may not be easy to change your mindset, but it is always worth the effort. An abundance mindset can transform your life in ways you never thought possible. By shifting your focus from scarcity to abundance, you open yourself up to opportunities and experiences that align with your goals and dreams.

So don’t let fear or negative thinking hold you back. Embrace an abundant mindset and watch as new possibilities unfold before you. Remember, your mindset is the foundation for everything in your life. So why not choose to cultivate one that empowers you and brings out your full potential? Start today and see where it takes you!

The post The Power of An Abundance Mindset for Reaching Your Health & Weight Loss Goals appeared first on Thinlicious.

Ever wish someone would just hand you a plan for whatever it is you want to accomplish so that you know exactly what steps to take, and in what order?

No matter what you want to accomplish in life, there are so many times where it’s really, really good to have a plan.  Because otherwise we just look at this big goal, this big thing we want to accomplish that looks so far away, and we get overwhelmed and frustrated before we even begin

And when it comes to getting healthy, I know how vitally important this is, because for so long in my own journey to lose weight, I just didn’t have that.

But at some point, a few years ago, I finally had an epiphany–a moment where I knew I needed to do something dramatically different than anything I had ever tried before.

The only question was WHAT?

So for the first time ever, instead of just diving into yet another diet plan, I decided to step back and do some research.  To actually figure out what works and what doesn’t.  To learn about the science of weight loss, and why we gain weight in the first place.

And then I created a plan.  A whole new framework, if you will.

And you know what else?  It worked.

I lost 40 pounds in 6 months.  Without drugs, without dieting, and without making myself miserable. And not only that, I’ve kept that weight off for several years now.

Because for me there is NO going back.  This is the solution I wish I would have had years ago.

And honestly that’s why I’m here. Why I started Thinlicious, why I take the time to record my podcast and write a blog post every week, even when I’m totally scrambling to get it done.

I can’t not share it, because it has changed my life in every way imaginable.  I have more energy.  I’m happier & have more fun. My joints don’t hurt and I don’t collapse in bed at the end of the day.  I dare to wear clothes I would have never worn before.  Sex is better. I look YEARS younger. There isn’t a part of my life that hasn’t been transformed, and it’s too good not to share it.  Because the solution is SO simple

And it starts with these three keys to mapping out your health plan.

Key #1: Don’t Try to Do Everything All At Once

The first key is to take it slowly and not try to do everything all at once. Trust me, I understand the urge to just jump in and change everything immediately, but that’s actually just a recipe for burnout and failure.

And I was the exact same way.  Diet after diet after diet.  And not only that, every time I decided to diet, it was the exact same story.  Cut my calories.  Exercise like crazy.  DO all the things.  Because that’s what we do, right?

We eat less and exercise more, because that’s what all the experts tell us to do.

And it wasn’t until I took a step back to look at the bigger picture that I finally realized the problem wasn’t just with my diet, it was a whole lot deeper than that.  Yes, food is obviously one important piece, but I had other problems too, that I had never considered before.  I was expecting everything to happen way too fast.  I also didn’t understand HOW certain foods were affecting my hormones.  And wasn’t focused on my mindset.  I just wanted instant gratification. 

But now, through my own journey and also after working with thousands of women in our program these past couple of years, I’ve actually realized what the framework success looks like and why it works.

I call this framework the Thin Adapted System.  And that’s the framework that our TAS program is based on.

And the reason it’s so powerful is that it accounts for the fact that true, sustainable weight loss doesn’t happen all at once, and only for one reason. 

Instead, it happens in phases, and in order to be effective, each of those phases have to have a clear objective with clear milestones, and they’ve got to address both the physical and emotional aspects of weight loss, while also being based on proven metabolic science that actually works.  If you take away any one of those pieces, it won’t work.

So in Phase 0, you’re not even really changing anything quite yet. And a lot of people skip this phase, but it’s probably the most important. Because the objective of this phase is to both mentally and physically prepare yourself for transformation.  And that’s a big deal, because it is what will set you up for long term success.

Next, there’s Phase 1—what we call the Acclimate Phase.  And the objective of this phase is to actually “flip the switch” on your metabolism and get your body to become what we call “Thin Adapted”, which is kinda like if your body was a car running on low-grade fuel, and all the sudden you switch it to high octane and it starts running way better. It’s awesome.  So that’s the goal.

From there, you move into Phase 2—the Ignite Phase. And how long you stay in THIS phase will really depend on how much weight you want or need to lose.  Typically most people in this phase of our program will lose 1-2 pounds a week, so it could be anywhere from 3-12 months or more.

Honestly, I think where so many of us go wrong is that we think weight loss is supposed to happen much faster than it actually does. Because any time you’re trying to lose weight, the first 10 pounds or so that you lose are usually water weight, and that water weight comes off fast. But FAT comes off a whole lot slower. So your weight loss slows down and then you get frustrated because you feel like it’s not working. So you’ve got to make sure that you’ve adjusted your expectations and that your mindset is in the right place so that you don’t start self-sabotaging.

And then finally, there’s Phase 3—the Maintain Phase.  Because, believe it or not, your health journey DOESN’T END just because you’ve reached your goal.  And the Maintain Phase is where you get to stay for the rest of your life, because the main objective of this phase is to establish healthy habits that you can easily maintain, while you continually challenge yourself to level up.

A lot of times we don’t think about this either–what it means to establish new healthy habits for life. We just go back to our old ways. But it’s important to be intentional here, because the longer you’ve had to establish BAD habits, the longer it is going to take to permanently replace those with new, better habits.

So that’s the first key…Not trying to change everything all at once.

But there’s another piece that’s really important, and that’s making sure that the physical changes you DO make are actually based on what WORKS–not just following the same old bad advice.

Key #2: Stop Relying on Willpower

And that’s why Key #2 then, is to stop relying on willpower to lose weight and get healthy! Because often what we think is the problem is that we just don’t have enough WILLPOWER to be successful, and that’s why all these diets we all keep trying don’t work.  Right? 

Because as women, we’re really good at internalizing all that blame.  It can’t be the SYSTEM that’s flawed….it must be US.  And I know, because I was the exact same way.

For so many years, I tried diet after diet, all handing out the exact same advice in a slightly different way:  just eat fewer calories.

But they always failed. I could never stick with them long enough to see any real results.  And then I’d get so hungry that the minute I fell off the wagon, I’d eat everything in sight and gain all the weight back….usually and then some. 

But when I started diving into the actual research, I discovered something that literally changed everything.

Weight loss is about how the foods you eat impact your hormones. 

It has nothing to do with calories.

And that means the only real way to lose weight in a sustainable way is to focus on eating the right things that will impact your hormones in the right way.  And yet, that’s not what anyone tells us to do, isn’t it?

And the reality is that there’s actually a much better solution. It’s a framework I call the NO WILLPOWER SOLUTION.  And it’s very simple.  It looks like this:

So that’s the second big key to mapping out your health plan–stop relying on willpower.

Key #3: Focus on Healing Your Body, Not Shedding Pounds

But the third key takes this concept one step deeper–it’s to focus on healing your body instead of just shedding pounds.

Because we tend to believe that the reason we don’t feel good or we’re struggling with a variety of health issues–whether it’s type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure or inflammation or heartburn–is because we’re overweight. And that’s often what our doctor tells us too.

And for so long, I thought my excess weight was the problem too.  I thought the reason I was so exhausted all the time, and that I was puffy and inflamed, and that my joints hurt and that I’d have headaches all the time was because I was overweight and out of shape.  And so I kept trying to FIX the problem by dieting—by treating the excess WEIGHT as the problem.

What I didn’t realize is that the weight wasn’t actually the problem—it was just a SYMPTOM of a much bigger problem.  Not only that, all the other health issues I was struggling with were symptoms of the SAME underlying problem.  Not realizing that this was really just like putting a bandaid on a shotgun wound….a totally superficial solution to a problem that was actually SO much bigger than I realized. 

And that means that the real key to permanent health and weight loss success is to fix the root causes at the sources.  You’ve got to actually heal your body from the inside out.  You’ve got to address the insulin resistance and the hormonal imbalance and the leaky gut that have created ALL of your other health issues, including your weight gain. 

And when you actually fix the root cause of your problems, the weight just comes off. Your body rebalances itself. It’s easy.

So focus on healing your body, not shedding pounds–that’s the third key.

A Few Final Thoughts

There’s SO much more I could say, but this blog post is already pretty long so I’m going to try to wrap things up.

But I want to leave you with this….

• What would happen if you stopped trying to change everything all at once and instead slowed down and made sure you were not just focusing on food, but on your heart and your head as well?
• What would happen if you stopped relying on WILLPOWER and started getting your hormones to work FOR you instead of against you?
• What would happen if you started healing your body from the inside out, instead of focused on just trying to shed a few pounds?

12 months from now, your life could look completely different. You could finally be FREE.

And that’s what I want so much for you. Truly. I want it for everyone. Because now I’ve experienced it, and I know how life-changing it is.

So if you want to dig deeper with me, and actually SEE the frameworks that I just described to you in action, be sure to catch the encore presentation of our Healthy Happy and Free workshop.  It’s a game changer.

The post  The 3 Keys to Mapping Out a Clear Plan for Better Health appeared first on Thinlicious.

Is the life you’re living right now the life you actually want?

It’s not a question we always dare to ask ourselves, because quite frankly….we might not like the answer.

And yet, every now and then, I think it’s important to step back and look at the bigger picture and get honest with ourselves about where we’re at right now…..and where we want to go.

It’s actually the question that inspired me to put together my upcoming FREE workshop, Healthy, Happy & Free in 2024. 

My goal is to help you lay out a clear path for transforming your health–and really your whole life–over the next 12 months. It’s going to be SO fun and empowering and honestly I think it is going to be life changing for everyone who attends.

Because so often we just get STUCK not moving forward because trying to figure out how to get from where we are right now to where we want to be just feels so big and so hard and so overwhelming.

So if you haven’t had a chance to register yet, be sure to do that HERE, because it’s going to be awesome. Truly.

But as I’ve been preparing for this workshop, it’s had me thinking SO MUCH about this topic of just living a life that is healthy, happy & FREE and what that actually means.

Because it’s a big deal.

And it’s also made me realize that in order to actually CREATE the life you want, to find that health and happiness and freedom, you’ve got to get some CLARITY on what that actually looks like.

I talk to SO many women that tell me they just don’t know what they actually want.

I think it’s maybe this stage of life that so many of us in our 40s and 50’s and even beyond that get to, where we’ve spent the last 20 or 30 years just trying to raise our kids and pursue our careers and do all the things, and then suddenly we wake up one day and realize that life is passing us by and our kids don’t need us as much as they used to and yet we haven’t really spent any time intentionally pursuing the things that matter to us or crafting a life that feels meaningful.

It’s like there’s this void and we don’t know how to fill it. We don’t even totally know what it is that we want, we just know that there’s a part of us that feels like something is missing. So we just keep doing all the things, hoping that someday it will all make sense.

But over the course of my own journey, which I talk about in more detail in this week’s podcast episode, what I’ve learned is that you can run and run and run and keep running from yourself and from all the things you are trying to avoid, but eventually it WILL catch up to you.

There WILL be a reckoning.

Something will happen that will force you to reevaluate where you’re at and where you’re going, like a mirror being held up in front of your face, where you’ll be able to see yourself clearly and you’ll have to ask yourself “do I like what I see?”

For some people it’s a tragedy. For others it’s losing your job or getting divorced or facing a financial crisis or even a global pandemic.

And all the sudden you’ll realize that you need to get clear about what you really want.

Why Clarity Matters

Because here’s the thing…..without clarity, you’ll only ever be DRIFTING.

And believe me, it’s easy to drift. Honestly, most of us spend our whole lives drifting, not really sure where we’re going or why.

We just go through the motions, doing what’s expected of us and what everyone else is doing. We follow trends and societal norms without ever stopping to question if it’s actually what we want for ourselves.

But drifting is dangerous. Because when you’re not actively steering your own ship, you can easily end up in waters you never wanted to be in.

And the worst part? You won’t even realize it until it’s too late.

Clarity, on the other hand, is like a compass that guides us towards the life we truly want. It helps us make decisions and take actions that align with our values and goals. It gives us a sense of direction and purpose.

So clarity matters. A LOT. In fact, it might be the most important thing you ever do for yourself.

But then, of course, the question becomes HOW.

How can you actually get clear about what you want?

There’s actually a few steps I recommend that you take.

Step One: Self-Assess

The first step to getting clear is to take a good, hard look at yourself and your life and where you’re at right now. And honestly, this isn’t always an easy process. It’s that holding up the mirror, and sometimes–if you realize that you don’t totally like what you see, it can be a little painful!

So what would happen if you gave yourself a score, on the scale of 1-10, in the following areas of your life right now?

Health

For your health score, a 10 would mean you are completely satisfied with your current health and weight. You look and feel your absolute best, you’ve got endless amounts of energy, and you’re free of chronic pain, inflammation, digestive issues, and brain fog. You don’t think it would be possible to look or feel any healthier than you do right now.

On the other end of the spectrum, a 1 would mean you are completely UNsatisfied with your current health and weight. On the BMI scale you are classified as obese or overweight, and you’re struggling with a variety of health issues, including possibly Type 2 Diabetes or pre-diabetes, inflammation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heartburn, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and brain fog. Essentially, you are deeply concerned about your health right now.

And chances are, you’re somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. But if you were to think about it and actually give yourself a number, what would it be?

Happiness

Then, for your happiness score, a 10 would mean you feel totally happy and satisfied with your life most of the time. Your relationships are good, you have a deep sense of meaning and purpose, you laugh regularly, you’re motivated and energized, and you continually seek out opportunities for personal growth.

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, a 1 would mean you feel completely UNhappy or dissatisfied with your life most of the time. You struggle with depression and anxiety, lack healthy & positive relationships, feel stuck and unmotivated, and have trouble envisioning anything different than your current situation.

And again, it’s likely that your score would fall somewhere in between those two extremes, but if you really stop to think where you’re at in terms of happiness and satisfaction in your life right now, what would that number be?

Freedom

And then, for your final number–your FREEDOM score–a 10 would mean that right now you feel completely free to pursue your goals and dreams, without feeling like there is anything holding you back. You say yes to new opportunities. You dare to take risks, and don’t feel fearful or burdened by outside events or other people’s expectations. The people around you support your goals and cheer you on.

Or, on the other side, a 1 would mean that right now you feel completely stuck to the point you are unable to even think about pursuing any goals and dreams. You find yourself constantly saying no, even to activities and interests that you used to enjoy. You avoid risks and often find yourself consumed with fear and anxiety about world events or other people’s thoughts and actions. You don’t feel like you have a good support system around you.

So for your freedom score, where does your number fall?

(And just so you know, you’ll actually get access to a workbook with this assessment and some additional helpful reflection questions as soon as you register for our free workshop, so be sure to do that right away.)

So that’s really the first step…..you got to be honest with yourself about where you’re at right now.

Step Two: Ask Yourself What You Want

The next step, then, is to actually spend some time thinking about what you truly want in each of these three areas of your life–health, happiness, and freedom.

And while that sounds simple, it’s not, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed and stuck and unsure

But you have to FORCE yourself to actually start thinking about it.

And honestly, it can’t just be thinking in your head. You need to journal on it. A lot.

You’ve got to ask yourself the question, over and over again, “what do I want?”

A few years ago, as I was going through my own personal identity crisis, this is exactly what my husband kept saying to me.

He’d ask, “honey, what is that you want? You don’t seem happy. What does winning look like to you? What do you really want?”

And then a close friend told me that I needed to journal EVERY DAY on the same 2 questions–”what do I want, and what is it going to take to get there?”  She told me that the more I journaled on just that question, the more clarity I would be able to find.

She was right. They were both right. I’m lucky I have good people in my life giving me really good advice, because it was exactly what I needed.

And so that’s the advice I’m going to give you too. If you need more clarity then you need to sit with that question. What do I actually want? What do I want for my health? What do I want for my happiness? What do I want for my freedom?

So that’s step two–ask yourself what you want, over and over again.

Step Three: Make a Plan

The third and final step, once you’ve started to get more clarity on what it is you actually want, is to make a plan to get there.

Because the reality is that nearly everything you want out of life IS possible, even the things that feel impossible right now.

I think so often we just shut ourselves down before we’ve even gotten started because we just get overwhelmed or impatient, when the reality is that there is very little any of us aren’t capable of with enough time and effort and focus.

I say this all the time, but big goals never happen all at once. They are only EVER the result of small steps taken consistently over time. And so to make those big goals happen, you just have to figure out how to break it down into manageable bites.

That’s really all a plan is. It’s this big thing that you want, broken down into smaller and smaller pieces that you can actually tackle one at a time.

The way I often like to do this in both my business and my personal life is to look at a BIG goal, and think, “if I were to achieve this goal, what are the 5 things that need to happen, the 5 major milestones I would need to make happen first? And then from there, I break down each of those 5 major milestones into 5 smaller milestones. And what I end up with is basically a roadmap for what I want to do.

And from there it’s just a matter of accomplishing each step.

While that might sound too simplistic to actually work, it’s actually incredibly powerful. 

So make a plan–that’s step three. But only AFTER you’ve gotten clarity on where you want to go.

A Few Final Thoughts

Getting clarity made me realize what actually matters in my life, and what’s truly important to me.

It restored my marriage. It transformed my health. It changed the focus of my business, and even how I operate as a leader. It transformed my friendships and helped create so much more joy and FUN in my life. And it reignited my faith and my spiritual journey too.

There isn’t a part of my life that isn’t better as a result of getting more clarity.

And I promise it can do the same for you.

So join me next week–either November 5th or 6th for my free workshop, and in the meantime get your workbook and DO the prework! 

It’s going to be a game changer, and I can’t wait to see you there!

The post How to get clear about what you want (and create a life that’s healthy, happy & free.) appeared first on Thinlicious.