Last week’s email about the thoughts you think all day long really resonated with you!

Thank you for all of the emails you sent.

It’s the biggest response I’ve had to a topic.

If you missed it, you can catch up here.

Let’s dive in a little further.

All those thoughts that you think all day become rehearsed over and over until they become feelings.

These can be our own thoughts or the thoughts and opinions of others.

Many of us marinate in negative feelings like anger, sadness, disconnection, embarrassment, shame, fear, guilt, stress, and doubt.

I’m willing to guess that fewer of us spend time in positive feelings like hope, calm, love, courage, curiosity, gratitude, and joy.

Your brain wants to keep you safe and conserve energy, so it’s going to let you know all of the negative reasons why you shouldn’t try to make a change.

When you attempt to make a change, such as eating more whole foods or going for a walk, your brain has been conditioned to loop in negative thoughts for so long that now you have developed feelings about it.

You feel guilty about the cookie you ate yesterday, so there’s no point in trying to eat a nourishing meal today.

Before you know it, your life is run by your feelings.

When our feelings are running the show, we either do or don’t take action.

Or we have reactions.

If you’re not going to the gym, making a nourishing meal, drinking more water, or going to bed earlier, then you need to ask yourself what feeling you’re having right before you want to take that action.

Then look further back at what thought is driving the feeling.

We don’t join the gym because we feel overwhelmed by a new place, new people, new equipment, and, in my case, where to put my purse.

That really resonated with all of you!

My brain had a lot of thoughts about acclimating to a new gym.

Those thoughts led to overwhelm.

The overwhelm made me want to stay home, leading to inaction.

The result is I didn’t work out for a month.

When we don’t take action, then we don’t get results.

Some common thoughts and feelings we have:

“I can’t” = if I move toward something new, I’ll lose control

“I don’t know how” = I don’t feel safe enough to try yet

“I always try and fail” = I’m trying to avoid shame

“I don’t deserve that” = I learned that my needs aren’t validated

“Other people can do that, not me” = It’s safer to stay small

“I’m too far gone” = I’m scared nothing will change

Which one resonates for you?

When I work with clients, I ask what their three to five health goals are that they want to work on.

It becomes our north star of what we work towards over our 12 weeks together.

I want to know how you want to feel at the end of our time together.

What we really want in life isn’t things like weight loss. 

It’s how we want to feel.

When you lose the 10 pounds, how will you feel?

When you stop having headaches, how will you feel?

When you eat whole, real food, how will you feel?

We’re all chasing how we want to feel.

What will you gain and how will you feel when you improve your health through nutrition and lifestyle changes?

You’ll have more energy is the biggest one I hear: energized.

Your mood improves because you’re not chasing energy all day: calm.

Your blood sugar is balanced, and you have more patience and bandwidth for the daily challenges: capable.

When you’re energized, calm, and capable, you’re able to show up differently in your life, with your partner, kids, co-workers, and friends.

In my weekly check-in calls with clients, I ask three questions:

• What went well this week?
• What didn’t go well this week?
• What would you like to do differently next week?

Your brain wants to default to everything that’s going wrong.

There’s that negative thought loop wanting to keep you safe and small.

Gather evidence of what went well.

I think you’ll be surprised when you start to stack results to show yourself.

Making changes to your health takes energy and time.

I encourage you to check in and question your thoughts.

Are they true?

Where have you allowed your thoughts to become feelings?

Are those feelings stored in your body as symptoms?

Are those feelings propelling you into action?

Or are they keeping you stuck and on the sidelines?

What are the results you want in life, whether it’s your health, financial, or relationships?

Now think about how you want to feel.

You want to lose weight, but really, you want to have better energy, be able to travel with your family, climb stairs without being out of breath, pursue hobbies, maintain your independence, and feel confident.

Dig into the deeper why behind your desire to make a change.

It’s more than just changing the number on the scale or your pant size.

Close your eyes and visualize yourself now that you’ve gotten the results you’ve been dreaming of.

How does it feel?

I’m curious if you’ve questioned some of your thoughts to see if they’re actually true.

Hit reply.  I’d love to know.

If you’re ready to make a change but your brain is full of reasons why it’s a terrible idea, let’s chat about it.