Why wait until next year? Start today!

At this time of year, there a thing about “just getting past Xmas”, where we wait to sort things out later.

Once we hit Hallowe’en and Guy Fawkes, it can feel very much like we are in an all too familiar holding pattern of pressure.

And even before Hallowe’en hits, we are almost all “busy and unhappy” , rather than being productive and joyful.

And most of us simply coast through life (I know I am right now…) rather than living “on purpose”.

Because of the way we’ve rigged modern life, “being stressed and covering that up with mindless eating” is default. This is simply how we have always coped with it.

And society tells is “this is normal” all the time. Both advertising and our peer group tell us to “buy the next big thing” (or “do the latest diet”) and it could fix everything for us.

And at this time of year, for many of us it can simply be a case of hunkering down and getting through.

It feels like there is a tsunami of consumerism and demands on our time before we can take a breath.

And then suddenly, it’s Valentine’s Day next year and we haven’t even begun to accomplish anything!

So, why wait???

“Life” has the tendency to happen…

Since March 2021, I’ve definitely been far more “busy and unhappy” than anything else.

My personal life has thrown shitstorm after shitstorm at me. It’s stuff that when I speak to my friends, they tell me that they are in awe of me. They have no idea how I’m still standing, let alone moving forward and getting anything done.

These events naturally took me away from my work here and way more into the “personal” zone. And whilst I wouldn’t change the choices I made, it’s definitely had an unwanted impact on how I live.

The balance of life, work and doing what I love the most, empowering the UK to eat itself healthy, is all to cock! (To use a lovely Northern phrase)

“Wait it out” is not my usual way of dealing with things. “Work the problem” is a personal motto.

So, I’ve been pushing on where I can, and then letting everything else less immediate fly in the wind.

The “wait for life to get better” – a reason or an excuse?

As a consequence, I know that I’ve been using Veggies covered in a creamy sauce and Hot Chocolate made with 100% Choc, Stevia and Double Cream as comfort.

I’ve been using “life” as the excuse to comfort myself with food. Of course, all the things I’m choosing are either Optimal or Sub Optimal on the OSN Scale, so not I am not harming myself.

Yet….

I know that my food addict tendencies are kicking me hard. So on top of everything else I’ve been dancing with my personal addictive triggers.

I’ve been using “too much plant matter” for the optimal health of my body. And have been dancing with “eat plants, feel not amazing, keep going” as my tradeoff against knowing that “eat pints of ice cream / go get fish and chips, feel utterly terrible, do bugger all” is not an option.

The wait for change to arrive has definitely given me a “good excuse”… but that’s really not a good reason for me not choosing to be as healthy as I can be.

Intention starts with a plan…

The beauty of the OSN Scale and the Three Tenets that are the bedrock of the HOPE Protocol: You adapt the framework to fit your life, tastes and health needs.

As such, I did a “30-day carnivore experiment” during January 2019. And it felt so good that I maintained it right through to March 2021.

When my world very much started falling apart. And I discovered that I had still more work to do on my mindset.

I stuck with it beyond the initial 30 days because I’d honestly never felt healthier or had more energy! Even with being low carb solidly for a good 7 years before that, going carnivore was like finding a “secret power up”. The leap from energised to amazing was profound.

Feeling amazing became a daily standard.

I know that I need to get back there, yet with what is going on…. I realised this week that I’m hunkered down waiting for the storm to pass.

And using that as an excuse to enjoy brocoli, onions, leeks, cabbage, mushrooms, green tea, red wine and chocolate.

These are things that I enjoy. That taste lovely, give me comfort, and yet are not really optimal if I want to be ditching my body fat. (And yes, I know how #firstworldproblem / whinny that sounds!)

Then, planning leads to action

So, in the next two weeks, I’m going to be working with my coach (every coach needs a coach!), holding myself accountable to my group (Low Carb Living UK) and so preparing now and planning to hit the ground running on January 2nd, with another “30-day carnivore experiment.”

Now, I know that my choice to go carnivore is an extreme. I have an extremely insulin resistance body. Even at the zero carb intake of carnivore, it has a devil of a time letting go of its fat stores.

I certainly do not advocate this level of restriction for most people though. I’ve seen that by simply ditching out the modern processed food-like substances (stuff containing sugar, wheat and seed oils) as well as minimising and avoiding other grains and high carb veggies is plenty enough for around 85% of the people that have used the HOPE Protocol.

People reading my books, doing my eCourses or working with me either in Low Carb Living UK or 1:1 receive huge success, and I’ve not yet had a client that needs carnivore, although a few have definitely wanted to try it out in a supported manner! 🙂

The trick to living a successful low carb life is working on the emotional triggers. Getting to the root of why we eat the processed food-like substances, sugar, potatoes and grains to comfort/reward ourselves.

And having support in some shape comes in to really get to the bottom of it is vital. So that it then becomes not so big a deal any more.

And action leads to results!

After all, anyone can do anything for 30-days.

I know that for me, rather than getting stuck in “wait until all blows over” mode, that 30 days of intentional action will almost certainly extend into a nice long stretch of carnivore. And I’ll get to feel absolutely amazing again. Brimming with energy rather than simply the more alert and able to handle things that I have now.

And as I also work in a supported manner on those emotional excuses to eat that I’ve been dancing with I will also help helping my clients dancing with their issues as well.

How could I assist you with the same? Drop me a message by clicking the link to my Facebook inbox and let’s talk about it.