June 7, 2024
It is something new that I am trying as I learn more about macronutrients and try to lose a little bit of weight (gotta show of my OrangeTheory muscles 💪🏽).
Amazingly, I have only been documenting my food for a few weeks and already I notice I’m being WAY more mindful about what I’m munchin’ on. 🥑
It’s not that I am giving up snacking (God forbid) or fasting (heavens no). But this has stepped up my accountability with myself!
This week I’ve been thinking about what my diary has revealed about my eating patterns. (Like that Saturdays are for snacks! 🍿)
And then I thought about how this could be a great tool for harnessing our foodie personality profiles.
For example, you might be a Connector (like me) and notice that on nights when you eat by yourself your default is junk food. Or maybe you’re a Creator who struggles to cook at home during the week, but you discover that it’s way easier if meal prep on the weekend. Or perhaps you are an Adventurer just wanting to try new foods more regularly.
My only recommendation, if you try to keep a food diary, make sure to do it without judging yourself. Remember all of the foods we eat serve a purpose (be it emotional, physical, mental). This can just be a new way to learn a lil’ more about 🥰 your cute self!
Don’t know your foodie personality? Take our personality quiz here!
🎥 On my Weekend Watch List is the all new The World Eats: Bread!
And I can’t wait to spot MFC’s very own board member, sourdough expert extraordinaire, Eric Pallant!
Here’s a sneak peek 👇🏽
🎙️ Last week, I had the AMAZING opportunity to sit down and chat with the one and only, Liz Williams, founder and President of the National Food & Beverage Foundation in New Orleans (which includes the very cool Southern Food & Beverage Museum).
Guys, I was so starstruck!!! 🤩
I wrote my master’s thesis about her work; and her founder’s story continues to inspire me to this day!
And she wanted me to be a guest on her podcast (someone give me a fainting couch, please)!!!
✨ Plus, I shared a TEASER of our next big exhibit (coming 2025)! And believe me, it’ll be a tasty one!
☀️It is HOT here in Denver - H. O. T. hot.
It’s official, y’all, summer is here and with it all of the delicious summertime treats!
Including one of my favorites…🍦 ICE CREAM!
And the question on everyone’s mind is … “When did people start eating ice cream?”
No? Just me then.
Anyway, TED came out with this 🧊 cool short history of ice cream 👇🏽
My favorite fun fact?
George Washington loved ice cream so much that he is said to have spent the modern-day equivalent of $6,600 on ice cream in ONE summer! 🥳 We’re with you George!
🧠 How I brain hacked my way into exercise (or other similarly annoyingly good habits for you)
I asked and you answered!
Last week, I talked about my struggles with exercise and how that in turn was connected to 👚 body image issues and eating. I Hated (with a capital H) exercise, but finally decided that I needed to do it so I figured out how.
And I think this method can be applied to pretty much anything you want to do. (I’ve also applied it to working on this very Museum!)
Disclaimer: Over the past 2 years, I’ve read a lot of blogs and books and watched a lot of YouTube videos to get this list and I highly recommend doing your own research to figure out your favorite cheat sheet. While this list may make sense to me and my brain, it might not make sense to you and your’s and that is totally okay.
Anyway, here we go:
1) 🥳 Celebrate the ‘easy’ wins!
Life is hard. Punishing yourself makes it harder. When you are trying something new and scary it can be so easy to focus on why you are a failure. Instead, celebrate your wins!
I’ve created punch cards that earn me a new book after 10 completed classes at the gym. I have a kick-ass playlist to pump me up before and after the gym. I stop to acknowledge how much stronger I’ve gotten every chance I can get. And I do that part out loud and to other people!
When you are starting, anything and everything is a win and celebrate it as such!
A note of caution: don’t celebrate with things that undercut your goals (ex. for every day of gym, I get four days on couch).
2) ✅ Visibility for accountability
Track your progress! We all have to track metrics at work and that is boring.
But when you do it for you it can be inspiring! This part also goes to my above point about celebrating your wins.
I’ve created a colorful tracker that I keep on my front door to remind me every time I go out of how much I’ve done this year! Whether it is a class or going for a hike, it is freakin’ on there. And I LOVE coming home and adding my latest accomplishment!
3) 🎭 Become a method actor
You want to be an exercise person? Play the role of an exercise person. (I actually got similar advice from a therapist I didn’t much like who told me to just be happy when I was just depressed, but it kinda works once you’ve taken the brain chemical imbalances away).
What does an exercise person do? They plan out their exercise times in advance. They move around their life to make sure that they go and exercise (not the other way ‘round). They talk about exercise with anyone who stands still for more than 5 seconds.
Yes, you might be annoying, but you are playing the part until you become the part.
Don’t believe me? I did this to try out being vegan for a day. That was 13 years ago and ever since I’ve been all about that plant-based life!
4) 🏆 Motivate yourself when you are ALREADY proud
Sitting on the couch trying to pep talk yourself into exercise when you really just want to pep talk yourself into a nap isn’t the way. I’ve found that motivating myself AFTER I’ve worked out is the best way to keep working out.
When I leave the gym, I blast my workout playlist.
I talk to myself about how freakin’ amazing I am and how Athena herself must have blessed me!!! (Cheesy? yes, but it works!).
I read motivational quotes when I get home.
Strut around in my workout clothes (channeling Freddie Mercury a la Live Aid! If you don’t know what I mean, go watch it).
Watch videos about why working out will help you stay happier, healthier, etc.
Oh yeah, and book that next class ASAP!
5) 💚 Remove choice and embrace permission
This one was the hardest for me: don’t ask yourself if you want to. For about a year and a half, I would sit there all day thinking “I don’t want to go to the gym.” And then… can you guess? I wouldn’t go.
But my favorite coach every class reminds us that it is okay to have ‘easy’ days.
So instead of asking myself “if”, I’ve started giving myself permission to show up and lift light weights or walk on flat road or … whatever.
And that gets me there. Once I’m there, I inevitably push myself to do more. But I still (almost every time) give myself that permission to go easy.
The thing is, you aren’t gonna be at your peak every single day (because if you were, it wouldn’t be your peak, it would be your norm).
So don’t hold yourself back waiting for those peak days to exercise.
6) 😄 It’s gotta be FUN!
Find something that you find fun and stick with it.
Will you stop? Probably. But will you start again if it is fun? Definitely.
And that will be better for you in the long run.
I have a post-it on my fridge that counts the numbers of times I have fallen down and the number of times that I’ve picked myself right back up again and kept going. Is it for the Museum? Yes. But it is also for those tricky habits where I am reminding myself I’m only human.
And what’s fun for your best friend or for your colleague will not necessarily be fun for you. Try new things, but let them go if they don’t bring you even a sliver of joy. (Pro tip: At the beginning start looking for a sliver, not the whole heap!)
7) (If needed) 💊 Make sure you have good meds!
I wouldn’t be able to do a third of the things that I do without a good balance of antidepressants and allergy meds in my system. For me, I had to get the right meds before I could even contemplate exercising. So if you are dealing with brain things or body things, take care of yourself and then work on those other goals after!
8) . . .
What about you? What have you found most helpful in starting new habits? Hit reply to this email and let me know!
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