Mindset: How Important Is It?

Mindset is possibly the most important part of your health you need to address. Without working on it, you won’t get anywhere, at least not anywhere far. The way you view the world and react to it and the way you view yourself, your health and your worth can have the most impactful consequences on your self.

Somewhere along the way, the hustle became the way we measure people. The busier you were, the more successful or admirable. If you never slept because of work, or if never had a day to play with the kids or enjoy yourself, then you were rocking it. The truth is this hustle mindset is what’s hurting us the most. When we don’t have time, are overstressed, overworked and probably underpaid, our fitness and nutrition are usually the first to go. Now we all know how that story ends: diabetes, hypertension, GI issues like IBS, Crohn’s disease, constipation, skin reactions like eczema, and mental health repercussions like depression or anxiety.

This basically happens because we are living disconnected from our bodies, we ignore the signs because we have to be the first, be the winner, be the best at everything and totally forget that we can’t do any of those things if we’re sick or exhausted or depressed. We need to connect to our bodies because it’s the only place we have to live and they’re with us forever. And this doesn’t mean the hustle isn’t something you should be proud of and avoid - I mean, we are totally there with you, but it also doesn’t mean that this is the way to measure your worth or success.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is Mindset?

Mindset is the belief that orients us into how we handle different situations, the way we sort out what we should do and how to go about it. According to Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, the person who coined the term, people have either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Those with the former believe that certain traits like intelligence or courage are innate, those with the latter believe that certain abilities can be nurtured and learned.

The importance of mindset is that it can determine your success. Basically, if you believe in a fixed mindset and you fail at something, there’s no room for improvement, but if your in the growth mindset team it’s more likely that you will learn from your mistakes, be more resilient, and try again.

How do you change it?

It’s not as easy as just thinking that you can do better or that you can learn something new. It takes practice, commitment, and hard work but it’s the most valuable thing you can work on for yourself. Think of the mind like a muscle that you want to build strength, you need to work on it everyday. Unlike other muscles, the mind does not need rest days when it comes to growing and building a better relationship with yourself. You need to immerse yourself in the growth mindset and resolve that you CAN and WILL change it - as if your life depends on it, because it does!

How do you practice growth mindset?

We believe in two important ways: meditation and therapy. Meditation is one of the most powerful workouts for the mind, it gives you the ability to have a birds-eye view so that you can respond to situations in a calmer way, in other words, you respond instead of react. By practicing mediation and being aware of your breathing you will be instantly taken to the parasympathetic state of calmness and build a connection between you mind and body. Therapy is another powerful tool that can help you reach those deeper places that you might be hesitant to go alone. In other words, counselors help patients bring consciousness to the unconscious. By talking about whatever comes to mind with filter, you inner mind and body do the talking and it’s up to the psychoanalyst to interpret those messages so that you realize what’s going on inside and make changes.

How does mindset relate to health?

The way we view and appreciate our bodies, the food we eat, the fitness we choose, it’s all about mindset. In order to truly develop better habits and change your lifestyle you have to address the mind first and the rest will follow. Each of us has beliefs around all these things that are a combination of our upbringing and culture. Often, when you start on a health journey, you start out of a place of need or a place of self-hate. Deprivation, using workouts as punishment, reacting once you’re sick are very common. Instead, what if you came at your health from a place of love, acceptance and feel like you are worthy and capable of improvement and change? That’s your mindset and it will change everything.

All About Elimination Diets

If you can’t tell, we don’t love traditional “diets” around here. Restricting calories, food groups, or specific items for the sake of losing weight only to fit into societal standards is honestly a waste of time, especially if it comes with a heavy dose of guilt, frustration and rebound weight gain because you aren’t making a lifestyle change. Elimination diets, however, can serve a purpose much larger than just loosing weight (although that’s often a side effect).

We talk a lot about the mind-body connection and tell you to listen and trust your bodies. That all sounds great and everything, but how can you actually do that? If you’re like us (and most people), you are probably pretty disconnected from your body. One way to begin to pay attention and increase your connection is to try an elimination diet. 

What’s an elimination diet?

An elimination diet, not to be confused with a “normal” diet, serves a specific purpose and has a time limit. It’s basically what it sounds like – you eliminate foods that you may be sensitive to and then reintroduce them one a time. They last anywhere from 10 to 30 days with a reintroduction period of a couple of weeks, depending on what foods you are eliminating.

Why should you do one?

As we said, you need to get to know your body in order to be able to listen to it. Most of us walk around every day with food sensitivities and even allergies that go unnoticed for years. And you may think, if it’s not causing a reaction, why should I care? Unfortunately, while you may not get an obvious, physical reaction, food sensitivities that go unnoticed can cause a lot of harm in the long run – digestive issues, bloating, fatigue, mind fogginess, and things you may not even think are related to what you’re eating, like depression or anxiety. Figuring out what your body reacts to doesn’t mean you’ll never eat that food again, but you can make more conscious choices and figure out what’s worth it, and what’s not. It will teach you to be more mindful of your food choices and more mindfulness = more connection to your body. 

Is it right for you?

An important thing to consider in doing an elimination diet is your why, are you sure it’s not to lose weight? Because if that’s your ultimate goal, then maybe it’s not the right choice for you. Elimination diets are not all fun and rainbows, you go through withdrawals, especially from sugar and can feel pretty crappy the first few days. There are ways to help reduce those symptoms but your body will go into a detox and there’s no way around that. Another aspect to take into consideration is that maybe you have done elimination diets before and you know what works and what doesn’t, well, our microbiome changes constantly, with the weather, our hormones, stress levels, that all affects your reactivity to foods, so it’s a good idea to do one once in a while to get another baseline, or at least, as a reset.

How do you do it?

There a lot of resources out there but you just do it with us! Starting September 3, we are doing a 10 Day Reset based on Dr. Hyman’s Food:What the Heck Should I Eat? book, which by the way, go read it - it’s amazing. Eliminating all the major food groups that cause food sensitivities will help you figure out what works for YOU. If you’re feeling ambitious you can keep it going through September and complete a Whole30 - I mean, you’ll already be 1/3 of the way in at that point. 

If you join us, you will receive:

·      24/7 Group Chat Support

·      Full Prep Guide with guidelines and what to expect over the 10 days

·      Recipe ideas

·      Daily tips and tricks with how to stay on track

The best part? It’s FREE.

Getting through an elimination diet can be hard, but it’s made easy when you have support and resources at your fingertips. Interested or want more info? Sign up below!