Tip Three: Building Muscle

• Create barriers between yourself and your impulses – your kids are not an excuse to eat poorly, they should be eating what you eat
• Don’t buy junk food or make them harder to access – your kids are not an excuse to eat crappy foods
• You don’t need to always tell yourself no: if...

• You don’t have to count calories and track obsessively to lose weight – focus on building habits and discipline.
• 9 out of 10 tips are about improving self-awareness.
• Weight loss has to come from a place of self-love and self-care – not self-hate and shame.
• Exercise an...

• Don’t drink your calories – if it’s too hard to only drink water, start by challenging yourself to drink 1 gallon of water per day as a priority in addition to whatever else you drink
• Avoiding calories in drinks can result in hundreds of calories per day and can help curb cravings

• Give yourself one year to lose 100 pounds – it’s a slow, steady process physically and mentally – build the right foundation to keep the weight off
• A year is not as long as it sounds with respect to your whole lifespan
• Trying to lose 100 pounds is not a ‘calories in, calories...

• Prioritize protein – eat protein first then move through the rest of the food
• Protein increases satiety and is critical for muscle and metabolism

Eat mindfully – sit at a table, no phone, no television

We often eat quickly and in a stressed state which is bad for the digestive process and doesn’t give us a chance to process the feeling of being full.

• If you can, hire a nutritionist to understand the relationship between your mind and body when it comes to food.
• Get the 9 previous steps nailed down before hiring a nutritionist.

• Understand the importance of discipline and habit, everything is easy when you start and feel motivated – long term success is hard
• Discipline means you do it even when you don’t want to, ask yourself what changes you can make now that are hard but realistic
• Build momentum by...

• Avoid heavily processed foods – they’re designed to make you eat more and are effective at doing so
• Don’t eat foods in wrappers & packages – don’t even worry about counting anything, eat as much as you want of whole foods  

• Increase activity throughout the day – add in 10 minute walks after meals, choose the stairs over the elevator, park a little further from the store
• It’s easier to stay consistent when you attach an activity to daily habits you already have