Ep. 56 | How To Not Want "Bad" Food

What if you could feel and look the way you want without all the parts of being healthy or losing weight that feel hard? You can have that!

I help you truly WANT to do healthy things so that you don’t have to white knuckle your way through life. In this episode, I share the exact steps I take to help people who feel like they have tried everything and who have struggled with sugar cravings their entire life see donuts and truly not want them. 

Getting healthy should make you feel ALIVE, energized, and motivated every step of the way. That’s what my Life Boost approach does. My approach is different from everything else you've tried because  it actually works. :-)

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Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

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To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

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Hey life boosters. This is Dr. Amelia health and life coach and recovered burnt out veterinarian here to help you ditch the yo-yo dieting people pleasing and perfectionism by breaking the norm and living a life that energizes you from within. Today, we are going to talk about how to not want junk food. Like, how would that make your life different? If you truly just didn't want the donuts when you saw them? Or you just didn't want the pizza. Insert, whatever food it is that you tend to feel out of control around when you wished you were making healthier changes, but then you just can't pass that up. What would it be like if you truly just didn't want it? So that truly is possible. As a health and life coach, I tend to work with individuals who feel like they have tried everything and nothing is working. They have tried every diet. They have tried to be so good. And yet they're just something that always causes them to fall off track and fall off the bandwagon and they struggle with cravings, sugar cravings, or around other food, or they feel like they're just lazy. They tend to feel defeated and frustrated with themselves because they are just like, I want this. So I just need more discipline. And willpower, I just need to be more consistent. And there's just this confusion of like, I want this, why can't I just make it happen. And I help them finally make it happen. Except it's not in the way that they imagined. Because it turns out they didn't need more discipline, willpower or consistency. They needed an approach that helped them to feel alive. And I helped them turn into those unicorn humans. You know, those people who they just have like this good energy, they just make living a healthy lifestyle look really natural. You know, the person who just like brings a packed lunch, they just, they don't want the donuts. And it's like, they seem disciplined, but it also seems like they're not having to like white knuckle their way through life. Like they truly are just making choices that feel good to them. I help people become that unicorn human. Those unicorn humans. They are living in wellness level three life boost. And if you're not familiar with the wellness levels, there are three wellness levels, even though our society makes it seem like they're only two. Wellness level one is I'll do it. Tomorrow. That's that level where you really want to make healthy changes, but it's just not happening because something today is feeling too overwhelming or it seems too hard. And so today's not the day. You tell yourself, you'll do it tomorrow, but tomorrow keeps not happening. And then there's wellness level too. That's where that's the bandwagon. That's where you are making healthy changes. You're feeling good in your body. But it feels fragile. It feels like at any moment you could fall off the bandwagon. You don't trust yourself to stay there. There's a lot of willpower, discipline, white knuckling being good. At this level. And oftentimes there's this tendency to fluctuate between wellness level one and two. But there is a wellness level, three life boost. And that's where you've ditched the bandwagon. There is no bandwagon because you're not afraid of getting off track. You are just living life in a way that is healthy and nourishing, you feel satisfied and free and energized, and you love the way that you are living your life. So there's never a fear of falling off track because you don't, you would never want to go back. That is level three. And when you got there, magical things happen. And I'm going to tell you how to do that. If you would like to be able to see donuts and genuinely not want them. in this episode, we're going to go over how to make that happen. It feels like magic, but it truly is just using the science behind how the brain and body work. And honoring what the heart needs. Now if right now, you are wanting to make healthy changes. And you're telling yourself that you just need more discipline and willpower. You just need to do it. Please know that that's not true. It's a sign that your inner critic is running the show right now. Telling you that you aren't doing good enough and you aren't trying hard enough. And I guarantee that's not true. In life boost land. I have a zero tolerance for bullies policy. Meaning that right off the bat, you start calling out your inner critic, that negative judgmental voice. You start calling them out and you replace it with loving and respectful and kind thoughts about yourself. Instead ask why is it understandable that making healthy changes isn't happening right now? Why is it seeming intimidating or hard? When you ask yourself that question, you're going to find that there are actually a lot of reasons why it's really understandable that right now, those changes haven't happened. And if you look around. The norm is to be sick, overweight and or unhappy. So if you're feeling one of those ways, You are not alone. That's the norm because everything in our society has set you up to feel exactly the way that you're feeling right now. And unfortunately the recommendations that you have been bombarded with and the messages are that in order to make healthy changes, you do need to be harder on yourself. Your body should be punished. You need more discipline and willpower. Or if you listen to my latest episode, Now there's also this narrative that being overweight or obese is genetic. And then it's just out of your control. And all of those messages are so disempowering. Here's the thing. If heli habits aren't happening. It's because there's something about getting healthy that's unappealing. And that typical approach to weight loss is extremely unappealing. It is draining. Literally the focus is on limiting calories, burning your calories, depriving yourself from things that bring you joy. And truly when you think about calories and being energy, the entire goal is to drain and restrict your body from energy. It's also depriving yourself from the things that you enjoy. It is making your life harder and sucking the life out of you. It's very understandable. That that does not sound appealing. And if you right now think that you are lazy. Know, that that's, that's not a thing. If you are telling yourself that you're lazy, all that means is that there's something else in your life that is draining too much energy right now. And it could be mental or physical. And that negative self-talk of telling yourself, like, I just need to do it. I just need more discipline and willpower. That negative self-talk and bullying yourself. Telling yourself, you just need to try harder when there's something else in your life that is feeling hard and draining your energy. That doesn't get you anywhere. One thing that I feel like that everybody misses or maybe they think that it's just a part of the healthy lifestyle and that's why it's an appealing. Is that if you think that you need more discipline and willpower in order to be healthy. Ask yourself, do you want to be relying on discipline and willpower for your entire life to maintain that healthy lifestyle? Personally, that sounds miserable and draining. I can really tell you from personal experience because as a burnout vet I did spend so much of my life following all of the rules. Relying on discipline and willpower in order to be successful in my job in order to be quote unquote unhealthy. And that did not lead me to success. That led me to wanting to leave my profession, the profession I had worked my entire life to, to achieve. And it made me feel so disconnected from my body. Despite, even when I was a healthy weight from all external ways of measuring the number on the scale, what the doctors were telling me, I was healthy and I didn't feel healthy. And I'm going to tell you right now. That it's not going to matter what you see on the scale what your body looks like if inside you don't feel good, you are not going to be happy. And, what is the point of being healthy? Why do you want to make healthy changes? It's to feel good. Right? Probably feel like you would have more freedom. You'd be comfortable and confident in your body. You would feel energized. You would feel alive. So your approach to getting healthy. Should help you to feel all of those things. It should help you to feel more alive. And free in your life and comfortable and confident. It shouldn't feel like white knuckling, willpower and discipline. Allow yourself to think for a moment, what would it be like if you could feel the way that you want to feel in your body, you could have the energy and confidence that you want. And you could also let go of all of the parts of being healthy that have seemed undesirable. You could let go of all the rules, all the calorie counting, forcing yourself to the gym when you're already exhausted, trying to be good when you're being good in every single aspect of your life. What, if you could just let all that go. And you could still be healthy. And it could actually make your life easier instead of harder. What if you never had to have that side of guilt and shame when you cave and have a donut? Because it just brings you joy. What if you could just eat a donut, if you wanted it and truly just enjoy it. And not have a guilt hang over after. And what if most of the time you genuinely saw donuts and you just didn't want them? How would your life be different if you weren't wasting energy on all those negative thoughts about your health or when you look in the mirror? What if health wasn't a problem. What have you looked in the mirror and you loved what you saw and who you saw. You felt amazing in your body? And you had all of that while living a life that you loved. Allow yourself for a moment to think about what that would be like. What it would be like to just let all of that go. It probably feels like there's a weight getting lifted off your shoulders. Like you can breathe. There's probably this like little bit of like excitement, but also this thought that that would be too good to be true. That energy and that ability to breathe and that weight. Getting lifted off your shoulders. That is you feeling alive. And that is what your health journey should feel like. Every step of the way. It should feel like, a weight is getting lifted off of your shoulders and that you are getting energy and that you are building excitement for what you are doing and the discoveries you are making. That is what your wellness journey is supposed to be like. That is 100%. Possible for you, no matter where you are in your health journey right now, I promise. And I'm going to tell you how to get there. So as an example, let's use donuts because they're just fun, right? Like when you see a donut, they're a fun shape. They have nice colors. Some of them have sprinkles. It just seems like a treat. And if donuts, aren't your thing, you can go ahead and apply what I'm about to talk about to whatever food that is that's your kryptonite, whether that's fast, food, pizza, fries, chips, whatever food you feel out of control around. That's going to apply. So with my programs and with my clients, the very first thing we address is mindset, as a reminder with the life boost, the lb approach. We have the three BS that need to be balanced. Brain blood sugar and belly, meaning gut health. And before even thinking about blood sugar or belly brain is the number one thing to address. So when it comes to donuts and your mindset around them, what has happened is that you have created a hierarchy with food. Where donuts are more desirable than more healthy options. And that's because from a very early age, you have been programmed to have that belief. Likely your parents made you finish the healthy food, the veggies before you could get dessert, or maybe donuts were treated as a treat that you got as something like a fun outing, something to do on a special occasion. Our society teaches you that unhealthy food is more desirable. Think Like pizza is for parties. Cake is for celebrating alcohol is equal to celebrating or unwinding, and that permission to relax. So you have this belief that unhealthy food is more desirable because that's what you've been taught. And your brain looks for supporting evidence. It's called confirmation bias. Your brain has a filter called the reticular activating system. And it filters all the information around you and it shows you the information that supports your belief. You have experienced this before. For example, if you suddenly learn a new word, then you start hearing that word everywhere. And it's not that now everybody's using that word more, it's using the same amount that it had been. It's just that your brain now has decided that that's important for you to be aware of and it's bringing it to your attention. And so the same thing happens with your beliefs around food. You believe that donuts are better than unhealthy food. And so your brain points out to you, the positive experiences around donuts when you were eating them, it feels good. You liked going out to get them. It was a fun experience. But. That is your perception of reality. It may not be the full reality of your experience with donuts. Because what you may not be connecting right now with a donuts. Is that you have a sugar high and then a crash. And then it contributes to having sugar cravings for the rest of the day. You kind of had a headache. You actually are really hungry by 10:00 AM. You kind of feel irritable. People are bothering you. You're hangry by lunch. You feel kind of guilty and gross as well. All of that is also part of the experience of having a donut. But your brain hasn't been connecting that. All your brain has been paying attention to as the positive part. So. Part of. Making healthy changes. Is creating a realistic understanding of how food is making you feel. And it's not normal to pay attention to how food makes you feel beyond when you're eating it. And the thing that gets really complicated and hard is that food impacts the way that you feel even up to 48 hours later. If you have an unhealthy gut food and intolerances, you may be getting a headache from a food that you ate two days ago. And that is really hard to connect the dots, especially if you're not paying attention. And so one of the first things that I have clients do is just paying attention to the beliefs that you have about food. The expectation that you are having around the donuts and paying attention. And I use a food and lifestyle journal. And I have an Instagram live video that talks more about that but it's basically just observing not. Who cares about the calories and macros, basically just noting the meals that you're eating enough so that you can remember. And paying attention to like how much sleep did you get? Are you experiencing any uncomfortable signs? Are you having a headache throughout the day? Are you having GI signs? Are you having achy joints? Sinus congestion. What were your cravings like? Are you feeling satisfied after the meal? This is why embracing your inner researchers. One of the life boost principles, because you have to get curious. You have to observe what you are doing. Collecting data recognizing that none of it's it's not good or bad. It's all really valuable data for you to collect so that you can learn about yourself and decide what feels best to you. The food and lifestyle journal alone as a knife is an extremely powerful exercise because that is helping you to start to create realistic understandings of how food is making you feel. And what's going to happen is that you're going to start finding that there are really nourishing real food options. That make your taste buds very happy. You really like them. And they also help you to feel great for the rest of the day. You eat them and you feel satisfied. You feel nourished. You feel great in your body. You're not bloated. You feel in control. You're not struggling with cravings. And you're going to notice that other foods that you thought were your favorite that you loved. Actually, it's just a very short amount of time when you were eating it for like a few seconds that is enjoyable. And then you're going to find that you feel like crap. And when you realize that there are foods that you really love eating. That make you feel good? You're going to want those more than the foods that you love for a moment that then make you feel like crap. Now sometimes you may make this connection, but you may still be going to the donut. And another big piece is because you, once again Have created a label for this food. You are telling yourself that you shouldn't be eating it. It's a quote unquote, bad food. So, of course, that's all you can think about. If you tell yourself that you can't have something, of course you're going to want it. Even if you're telling yourself not to think about something, like think about anything other than a pink elephant. What are you thinking about? Right. If you can't have something, you will want it. You need to let go of the rules. This is where all that discipline and willpower needs to go away. You must feel like it is a choice that you have the freedom to have donuts whenever you want to. If you want to be living a healthy lifestyle that feels natural and free. Where it feels like a weight is lifted off your shoulders and it gives you energy. You need to let go of the rules that have been weighing you down. And you need to trust yourself. When you feel like you have the choice. To have a food at any time you are taking away its power. And I know that this is probably making you feel like there's no way, like if you let go of the rules and you just allowed yourself to have whatever food you wanted, any time in any amount, then you would. It just fall off the wagon. Yeah, it would just be over. You would never be healthy. And I'm going to tell you right now that that is not true. Because here's what happens when you let go of the rules. And you need to be observing how you're feeling. Remember. The thing that we talked about first, you have to be paying attention to how the food is making you feel. But if you let go of the rules, say, then you're like, amazing. Okay. I'm just going to have as many donuts as I want to. You can do that. You may, maybe you just like go all out and you just eat all the food that you've been depriving yourself from for a really long time. So there's this thing that I call the squiggly line effect. And. There's this point where if you've been yo-yo dieting, what happens is that and I wish that you could see me, but imagine that I'm showing you like big curves up and down. And at the top of that curve thisis when you are following all the rules, you are restricting yourself. You are being good. There reaches a point where you just, you know, life is busy and stressful and you don't want to be good anymore. You just need a break. That is when and imagine me like crashing down to the bottom. That is when you feel like you fall off the bandwagon, that's when suddenly you're eating everything that you want. You just need a break. You're like, oh, I'll just like, I'll do the diet tomorrow or maybe not. That's when you go crazy. But what what has happened? Look back at your past. There's a point when you stop wanting to do that. And you do want to be making healthier changes. And if you've experienced yo-yo dieting before then there've been a lot of highs and a lot of lows. And that's because it's not balanced. It doesn't feel good when you are trying to be restricted and good all the time. But it also doesn't feel good when you are just making choices that feel like crap all the time. When you let go of the rules you start to find a nice, happy medium in between. Where those fluctuations aren't so hard. Because you're not needing to like suddenly break all the rules because you weren't needing to follow all the rules. And so then instead of looking at all, like all these highs and lows, it's more just like a calm sea there may be some little ripples along the way. You know, like if you go on a vacation, you're eating food that maybe it doesn't make you feel as good. But at the end of the vacation, you're probably ready to be eating more real food. Your body is probably craving like salads or veggies. That's because your body is always trying to bring you back into balance. And it's all these rules that are making it hard for you to honor that. And so what's going to happen is if you allow yourself just to eat, whatever the heck you want, you are not going to feel good. If you eat a ton of donuts, you're not going to feel good. And so you can collect data as you embrace your inner researcher and you can pay attention to. Okay. How did donuts make me feel? What was the full experience? You are naturally going to not want to be doing that. The more you make those connections and the more you rewire your brain so that it has a more realistic understanding of what donuts mean. And so it may be that you for a little while you keep making choices, that don't feel good. But if you remember how you want to feel, if you want to feel energized, comfortable, you don't want to be dealing with gut issues. If you don't want to be having headaches all the time, if you don't want achy joints, if you want to be feeling alive. Then you are naturally going to be choosing the food that is making you feel better. I promise. The other reason that you're going to be naturally choosing those foods that make you feel better more often. Is because you are addressing the relationship that you had with yourself. And you're developing a more compassionate and understanding relationship. A new perspective where you're recognizing that your body is always there for you. And the more that you start calling out your inner critic and replacing those negative judgmental thoughts. With loving and respectful thoughts about yourself. The more, you are going to want to be partnering with your body and treating it in a way that feels good. So, so far you are paying attention to the way that food is making you feel. And you have let go of the rules. So the brain also is making it hard for you to be making changes because of. Dopamine. So every time you eat a donut, you are getting a nice big hit of dopamine. And not only do you get dopamine when you are eating something sugary or ultra processed. But dopamine also comes from the anticipation of a reward. And so here's what happens. You already have been set up with the belief that donuts are amazing and desirable. And the first time that you had donut. Your body got a dopamine hit. And dopamine makes your brain remember. And so that really drilled in that concept, that donuts are desirable. And so anytime after that you think about having a donut. Just that thought is giving you a dopamine hit. Remember, I'm saying, even if you're anticipating a reward, you're getting that. And so as you're collecting data, you may recognize that actually donuts make you feel like crap. But you're still having that dopamine. And so here's what happens. You have the donut. It's blissful for a moment, but then your blood sugar crashes and you feel guilty. Then you need another hit. Because you need to feel good again, right? So then you're wanting some other sweet, some other escape. From those undesirable feelings of not having energy or feeling really mentally irritated with yourself that you went off track again. This is just like how gambling works with dopamine. There's that dopamine hit because there is the expectation that you could win a ton of money. But then there's that crash because you didn't. And so in an attempt you want that high again. And that's where you get stuck in this vicious cycle. But what you are going to find. Is that as you are paying attention to the way food is really making you feel. You are going to start to eat more real food food that makes you feel good. And when you do that, you're going to be having more energy and motivation to be doing other dopamine boosting activities that are more healthy. For example, if you are feeling more energized, you might be motivated to start going for a walk outside. And that movement and being outdoors that is going to give you a dopamine hit as well. So now that we've talked about the brain. And that's a reminder why before I have my clients making any changes to the food a huge part is addressing mindset. And even one that we haven't really talked about a lot. Is also addressing what in your life is feeling hard? Because of you pay attention to when you most want donuts. Yes, your body wants the sugar, but it's because your body thinks that you're going to feel a certain way. And that's probably feeling like you're getting a treat. That it's bringing you joy. It's a moment of relaxation. And really getting curious about where that's missing from other aspects of your life. So you may be more likely to turn to donuts when you are feeling really stressed. Well, really it's important to get to the bottom of what is contributing to your stress. There so many nervous system regulating techniques, I share three really powerful ones that are in the free intro to my game changer course. If you use just those three techniques alone. It is going to help you to feel in control. You will have the power to just release and let go of stress just as if you were having a glass of wine, you're just, aren't going to have the hangover after. So really getting curious about, and this is again where your food and lifestyle journal is helping you to collect information. About. Okay. I see that my stress was really high and then I had a donut. What was contributing to my stress. If it is that the donuts are a treat. Are you having other things in your life that are bringing you joy and that are feeling like a treat? When are you getting moments of relaxation that aren't food related? Really getting curious, collecting data about when you're most likely to be making changes to, to be making choices that aren't consistent with what you want to be doing. And getting to the root of what you are needing in life. So now as we move to another LIfe Boost B blood sugar. So another big thing that needs to happen with donuts. And this can also be with other ultra processed foods. Is that your taste buds need a reset. So if you've been following me for a while, you know, that hidden sugar is everywhere. Even in savory things. So, Ooh, look at salsas, vegetable soup meets crackers, dried fruit. It's everywhere. You'll be shocked. So when even if you don't feel like you are eating a lot of sweets, you can very easily be consuming more than the maximum recommended amount of sugar in a day. And so even though you don't think that your taste buds are getting exposed to sugar, they are. It's creating a baseline where your sweet taste buds are becoming numb to sugar, basically. And the best way I can describe it is that it's like being in, you know, when you're at a concert. It's so loud. That you can barely hear when your friend is talking. Like even when you leave the concert. You're having to yell because you can't hear things that are at a normal volume. That same thing happens with your taste buds. So if there's just so much sugar. Then a natural amount of sugar, like from fruit isn't you're not going to be able to taste it. But when you're at a concert, you do get your hearing back, right? Once you, once it's no longer loud, then you can hear even a whisper. The same thing happens for your taste buds. When you start paying attention to where hidden sugar is, and you start making swaps for the salsa that doesn't have the sugar in it. You are dramatically decreasing the amount of sugar you're having and your taste buds are now going to be able to detect sweetness so much more. And so what you will find. Is that if you take a break from added sugar, For at least a couple of weeks. You are going to reset your taste buds. And then when you have the sweets that you typically did, like a donut. It is going to taste sickeningly sweet. And so now as you collect data, you're expecting that the donut is going to be delicious. And a treat. But now, even when you eat it, it tastes too sweet. And then you have sugar cravings all day, your energy crashes, you feel irritable and hangry. And you have a headache. Now the entire experience of having a donut really isn't desirable. Especially when you're realizing that there's other food that tastes good and it makes you feel really great. And with my programs, you have the option depending on what feels right to you. So there's an option to be making gradual changes where I walk you through slowly, starting to look at the food that you have in your kitchen, starting to make swap slowly decreasing the amount of sugar. Or you can do a body vacation, which is taking a break for four weeks from all the foods that are making it really hard to listen to your body that are contributing to inflammation, that are hijacking your brain, that are messing with your taste buds. You take a break in order to get a reset, to go back to factory setting where your taste buds are how they should be. And then you slowly reintroduce food one at a time so that you can observe and learn how that food is making you feel that way you are empowered with the knowledge. Of how it makes you feel and you can decide how much feels good to you. Now as you're collecting data about how food makes you feel, you are going to find that real food. Makes you feel really good. Real food balances your hormones and cravings so that you feel satisfied. And that's because your body isn't stupid. So as a reminder, Your body is the one thing in this world that's only mission is to keep you safe and healthy so you can survive. That is its one and only priority is you. And so if your body, it doesn't seem like it's cooperating that's because it is either feeling threatened in some way. Because it's not getting the food or nourishment or rest that it needs. Maybe it's getting exposed to weird chemicals that it wasn't designed for. Maybe it feels like it's being chased by a lion, like for the past year. There's something that is it feels threatened and it's doing its best to keep you safe. It also may not, you may not be giving it what it needs. And so I know that you have been fed this message that. It's just as simple calories in calories out equation. And that you know, all calories are equal. It has the same effect in our bodies and that's, that is just not accurate. 1 hundred calories of broccoli. Is going to do completely different things to your blood sugar and your gut health and your metabolism and your hormones and your genes compared to a hundred calories of a donut. They're not the same. And your body isn't stupid. It knows that. Your body doesn't see food just as calories. It sees food as the building blocks it needs in order to do its job. Because food does not come as just calories. When you have food, there are the macro nutrients, there's a protein and fat and carbs. And then there are all these other micronutrients, the vitamins and the minerals and antioxidants. Your body knows what it needs in order to be able to do its job. And so if you are mainly feeding it ultra processed food or food with sugar, that's like more sugar than your body was designed for. And it doesn't actually have the nutrients that it needs. Like those vitamins and all of those are the amino acids that is. Important to do the normal processes for your organs to work the right way and for it to protect you. So when you eat something like a donut that has absolutely zero nutritional value. Yes, you're getting calories, but it's not getting what it needs. And so it asks for more. It acts like it's hungry. It's not satisfied. It has cravings. Because it truly, it needs more. Yes, you may be reaching your calorie allotment. But your body needs the supplies. And it's going to keep asking for them until you give it to you so that it can try to keep you safe. It tries to give you energy, but you need to really be making sure you are giving your body the basic necessities, right? The messages around health have made it seem so complicated. Truly if you address the basic necessities of rest, hydrating, eating real food that your food, your body was designed to have. Getting sunlight moving. When you do those, you will feel amazing. Your body will go into balance. So when you do eat real food, that helps to bring balance to your body. It balances your hormones, your body is going to cooperate. You are going to feel satisfied. Your cravings are going to go away. I promise. But this is why you can't trick your body. Having like the artificial sweeteners, in order to like, keep eating that junky food that you want, but trying to make it seem like it's healthy, your body knows what's happening. You really can't like cheat your way out of it. This is where really paying attention to how is the food truly making you feel, looking at it? Just forgetting about the calorie. So you can actually pay attention. You can focus in word. Instead of an external things like the scale and calories that are not telling you what is important, what you feel like. So finally now, as we are, you are paying attention to how food is making you feel your hormones are getting more balanced. You're starting to control the dopamine and you're trying to get more healthy nourishing doses of dopamine. The final thing is that you need to rewire your brain because there are certain habits that you have. You're used to turning to for an example, a donut at certain points. And the reason that your body does this is because your brain. Is. Like a gas guzzler when it comes to looking at energy consumption. Your brain consumes a huge amount of energy for its size. Your brain is like three pounds and it uses like 20% of your energy. And so anything that it can automate and make easier, it will. And that's why habits are so hard to break because you can think of habits like a highway in your brain as neural path. Every time you do something, it is paving that path more and more. It's making it wider and wider. And so say, when you see the Dunkin donuts sign, you were used to just getting a donut with your coffee. It's really hard to break that path and to start going down a new path, but that is a necessary part of the process. So in my programs, I teach you how to change any habit. Think about. That alone. How would being able to change any habit whether that's saying yes when you want to say no. Whether that's turning to. Ice creamand you really want to stop eating? Whether it's having too many drinks, if you could change any habit that you wanted to, how would that change your life? I teach you how in my courses. So. In order to be changing habits. The first thing you need to do is you need to be able to regulate your nervous system. Because again, if you think about when you were turning to donuts, It is because you are wanting to feel good. And a lot of the times when there are unhealthy habits or bad habits, It's because you are trying to escape from an uncomfortable feeling. You're either trying to numb, or you're trying to give yourself a more positive feeling through food or whatever that habit is. But if you can take away that emotional charge and bring yourself to a more neutral state. That will help you to feel in an state where you are much more in control. And where your prefrontal cortex that's like the adult in the room. Where that helps to get, to decide the think ahead and decide what you want to do instead of having the reward center or your amygdala, which is like the toddler, just like impulsive part of your brain, rather than letting those be active and those parts are become more active when you are eating ultra processed food or food that is high in sugar. Instead your prefrontal cortex gets to be in charge. And so a big part is at the core foundation of making positive changes if you are going to do one thing, it would be to learn those techniques to balance, to regulate your nervous system, to be able to bring you to a more neutral state very quickly. And again, in the free intro to my game changer course, I'll leave the link in the caption for you to sign up I will teach you three. That where you can instantly bring yourself into a calmer state. They have the power to take like a 10 out of 10 stress and take you to like a zero to three out of 10. Just imagine how having those tools could change your life. Those tools are even so easy that you can teach them to a toddler. If you have kids can you imagine what that would be like if you have some little techniques that you can, you can walk them through to help them to calm down? So what these techniques can do is they can act as a roadblock for that neural highway. So that path where that leads you to the donuts. As soon as you noticed yourself, starting to feel triggered, starting to go down that path. If you turn to one of these nervous system regulating techniques. You are putting up a roadblock. You are putting yourself back in control so that you get to decide which direction you want to go instead. And a big part is starting to think about what direction do you want to go? Think about the future version of you, the version of you, that feels just the way that you want to feel. You're living the way you're living your life. Just the way that you want to be. How does that version of you? Behave around donuts. What do you do instead? As you collect information about all the things that are leading to you, making decisions around donuts. Whether it's when you're stressed, maybe at seeing that donut sign, maybe it's at work, you know, when they bring in that beautiful tempting box of donuts and they're just all colorful and looking at you. What is your plan? What do you want to do in stead? And really setting yourself up for success. With my clients, my programs, I'm able to help them really expedite change. And changing habits because there are techniques that you can use to rewire your brain very quickly. Basically you can. Copy. And paste, you can copy the way that you want to feel instead. And paste it to certain triggers so that when you see donuts, do you feel a different way? You can also use this for phobias. You know, if you're afraid of Heights. This is a way of just reprogramming and rewiring your brain. It's a really cool technique that I've learned in my most recent coaching certification program. And so with my programs, whether that's one or one-on-one or with group coaching, we're able to just bam, bam. One habit after another that you want to change or able to do that. And right now at the time of this recording, I do offer complimentary one hour calls. So if you want to talk about your unique challenges, what you've tried, where you want to go and you want to experience how quickly change as possible for you. How quickly your brain can change. Then I will leave the link to set up a time so that we can chat. Now, if you've done all the other things that I've listed, the nice thing is that it's going to be easier and easier to be changing these habits, because like I said, you will have rewired your brain. You will realize now you truly don't want donuts. Because they don't taste good to you and they make you feel like crap. There are other amazing foods that bring you joy. And that make your body feel so good and that make you feel energized. So why would you want the donut? That is how I help people who have struggled with sugar cravings, their entire life. Who have struggled with yo-yo dieting and felt like they need to rely on discipline and willpower. That is how I help you. To just not want donuts, that's help. How I help you to create a lifestyle. That energizes you where you don't have to follow rules. We're healthy is just natural. Now have you love the thought. I've really feeling alive again. Having that weight lifted off your shoulders. Being able to breathe again. Letting go of all of the parts of being healthy that have felt hard and intimidating. And just getting the results that you want. Finally. In a way that makes your life easier. And more exciting. Then we can get started today. I have a one year life boost membership program that will make it so that you see that junk food and you truly don't want it. You can expect to be able to look in the mirror and to see someone who you love. Without that judgment. You're going to experience side effects like. Suddenly you start being that person who naturally. Wakes up early in the morning. Instead of running around like a mad person. And not having time for breakfast. You're going to find that you naturally want to start moving your body. Because you have energy and because you want to do it, not because you are trying to burn off calories and punish your body from choices you made. You're going to find that. You are more confident. You are going to start asking for the raise that you really want instead of selling yourself short and asking for the one that makes you feel like you're not being too much. You're going to start making time for you even if right now you feel like your life is way too crazy and that would be impossible. My life boost approach is different from anything else that you've tried because it actually works. It works if you are looking for a sustainable, healthy lifestyle that you love. Because with my lb approach reminder that we prioritize the three L's. Love lifestyle and longterm. Love, you need to love what you're doing, love the way that it's making you feel. And it needs to be coming from a loving and respectful place. Lifestyle. The approach needs to make sense for your lifestyle. It needs to feel doable and it needs to be making your life feel easier. And then longterm. You need to be creating a new norm. You need to be seeing these changes as you something that you are going to continue to do for the rest of your life, because you want to. If you're making changes and you're looking forward to going back to the old way that you did things, then the way that you feel is going to go back to how it had felt too. So regardless of what approach you are using. Always check those three life boosts L's, because those are the key to creating a life that energizes you from within and that you don't want to ditch. So, If you keep saying that you want to make healthy changes, but you've been feeling stuck in that"I'll do it tomorrow." Level one, or you've been stuck on the bandwagon for a long time and you're sick of needing to white knuckle. It. Then what are you waiting for? You can just release and let go of all those rules and finally feel the way that you want to feel in a way that feels really fricking good. And you can sign up either following I'll leave a link in the show notes or you can send me a message to learn about either the group or my six month one-on-one program. You can email me at amelia@lifeboost.today. You can always find me on Instagram and Tik TOK and Facebook. I'm life boost with Amelia. Cheers to your inevitable health, happiness, and success.