The Power of Focus and Habit Change

Increasing power through narrow focus

  A lot of times we tend to overthink, multitask, and get distracted when it comes to our goals. Whether it is fitness, work, family, or life in general, we all want to do so much. How much of it do we actually get done? 

Reason for starting small:

1.) Narrows focus

2.) Keeps you motivated and enthused 

3.) Easier to manage

4.) Less stressful

5.) Slow and steady wins the race ( long lasting results)

6.) Ensures success

  We all have many goals we want to achieve. Choosing one single goal to achieve and then moving to the next is much more effective. You don't want to spread your focus too thin and dilute the power behind your efforts. Break that one single goal into sub goals that are easier to obtain. This keeps you organized. Immediate achievement is rewarding and addicting.

How to focus on completion and immerse yourself into that task:

1.) Choose a task you are passionate about

2.) Choose something challenging

3.) Break tasks down into simple and small tasks to stay organized and motivated

4.) Eliminate distractions and the nonessential tasks

5.) Start tasks first thing in the morning and set a routine

6.) Visualize the end result of completion and how rewarding it will be

How does this all apply to your fitness goals?

  We often overwhelm ourselves with everything we need to do to reach our body and lifestyle goals. It’s really very simple. Find motivation and a plan to steadily reach your goals by narrowing down your goals into small tasks. Understand that it will take time and slow progress will stick with you longer. Eliminate your distractions, temptations, and set a routine to break old habits and start new ones. 

  If your goal is to lose weight, start by simply waking up every morning with a healthy balanced breakfast and create a daily routine including physical activity. By doing this one thing, eating a healthy breakfast, you have broken down your goals into smaller tasks. You then completed that one simple tasks and created a new habit! BOOM. Next, choose another tasks such as a time every day or every other day to go to the gym. Just getting up and going is something to be extremely proud of. Often, it is getting started that is the hardest part. Creating habits is key to a lifestyle change.

In a relationship.. with food.

How’s Your relationship with food?

Think of food as a way to nourish your body. Don’t think of food as something you have to eat or not suppose to eat.

We tend to connect food with how it affects our body image. Instead of thinking of food as a way to keep us nourished and energized, we tend to directly connect food with how we feel about and how we look at our bodies. Food is food. Why torture yourself and make food to be the source of anxiety and let is rule your life?! Love yourself in all forms and don’t make that love be dependent on what you put in your stomach. 

Here’s how to correct your dysfunctional foodship!

1.) BECOME SELF AWARE/ MINDFUL- be mindful of when you are comfortably full. Sometimes we eat so fast and carelessly that we wait for the fullness to slap us in the face! Eat slow and listen to your body when it says you have had plenty of nourishment. 

2.) PREPARE- Prepare your food in single serving sizes. When you eat till everything is gone you usually feel guilty. When its pre-portioned you won’t have this guilt when its gone. You are tricking your mind! 

3.) DON’T GO HUNGRY- do not ever let your self go hungry! When you feel hunger creeping up on you, EAT! Have small meals throughout the day so you don’t end up binge eating in one meal. Smart snacking between meals can also combat hunger without guilt.

4.) DON’T GIVE UP ON THE FOODS YOU LOVE- Simply modify them to be healthier. There are plenty of recipes to make deserts that are better for you. You can also indulge in moderation. Have a small desert once a week. That way you have something to look forward to! You can also refer to my desert recipes high in protein at beautyworkfitness.com 

5.) HAVE GRATITUDE- Think of how the food in front of you is a privilege and a blessing. You are so lucky to have nutritious options available to you! Take advantage of it and be thankful. What you are about to eat should nourish your body, help your hormones, help your organs function properly, aid in cell functioning, and give you the energy you need to live!

6.)STOP GUILT- guilt manifests into stress releasing cortisol. Cortisol affects blood glucose levels, metabolism, immune response, blood pressure, and the central nervous system. If you eat something that you think you aren't suppose to eat hen get over it. That one thing won't ruin your life. Move on. Be happy.

7.) STOP COMPARING- everyone has different complex body mechanisms. Nutrition needs for you are totally different from your peers. Just because you know someone who is “fit” and never touches a cookie, doesn't mean you’re not going to be fit if you eat a cookie. Everyone’s metabolism is different and everyone responds to foods differently. That is why cookie cutter meal plans never work. Don’t take other people’s relationship with food personally. Focus on yourself! 

8.) AVOID BORED EATING- if you are not even hungry, don’t let yourself reach for food just because it's there. Get up and do something in its place. Take a bath, start cleaning, complete a task you want to finish, call a friend, or do something active.

Emotional eating is very common. Don’t think you are an emotional eater? Ask yourself this: When you have worked really hard that day/that week, when you accomplished a daunting task, or when you completed a workout at the gym, do you reward yourself with something you normally don’t eat? Like ice-cream, cake, an entire pizza, or fast food? That’s emotional eating. Food isn't something to be deserved or deprived of. It's just food intended for one reason only. Nourishment. When you eat for nourishment you are giving it what it needs. Now that's not emotional. That's Physiological. That’s respecting yourself.

YOU HAVE ONE BODY. RESPECT IT. NOURISH IT. LOVE IT. TREASURE IT.

LOVE YOUR BODY AND IT WILL LOVE YOU BACK!

Nutrient Timing

It’s not all about what you eat but also when you eat! 

Why is it important?

• improves body composition
• nutrient partitioning (where nutrients go after intake) 
• improves performance
• enhances recovery 
• beneficial for manipulating and controlling insulin levels

Activity levels and carbohydrate intake (also depends on body type)

high carb intake-intense resistant training,frequent physical activity, sprinting, or long duration workouts or running

lower carb intake- non-active or sedentary days, low level of physical fitness, low physical activity, or rest days

——Carbs are a major source for ATP production through glycolysis. Carbs are broken down into glucose which stores in the muscles as glycogen. Therefore, the more activity we do, the more we need carbs as an energy source and to regulate metabolism and catabolism. Carbs are not your enemy! 

*BREAKFAST you should always start your morning with energy from a balanced meal with both protein and carbs. Remember, energy comes in the form of ATP necessary to catabolize what we digest.

Breakfast combos:

eggs & oats

turkey sausage & whole grain toast

Turkey & cream of wheat or cream of rice

eggs & whole grain waffle

egg whites & whole grain or sweet potato pancake

chicken sausage & whole grain bagel thins

(Add fruit to any of these. Berries and bananas are great!)

—-in a hurry? grab protein shake

*LUNCH-you should have at least 20g protein from unprocessed meat, rice, tortillas, potatoes, rice cakes, or any other carbs should be around the same amount as your protein intake! You should also get a cup of greens such as a salad or other vegetable.

*DINNER-you shouldn’t eat right before bed. Dinner should be no later than an hour before bed time. You don't want many carbohydrates before bed. Eat protein from meat and as many vegetables as you want! Have a tablespoon of natural peanut butter to satisfy your sweet tooth!

*POST WEIGHT TRAINING-have fast acting protein and fast acting carbs! I recommend a low temperature processed pure whey isolate. Post workout, your body needs nutrients very quickly and stay anabolic ( this means burning fat and gaining lean muscle tissue). Try this: Phormula-1 

*SNACKS between meals-should be light and low carb. Have some healthy fats such as nuts! More examples of healthy snacks are protein shake, a rice cake with nut butter, veggies, protein bar, popcorn, hard boiled eggs, pumpkin seeds, low fat yogurt, edamame, hummus and veggies, or kale chips.