All tagged hormones

You're the architect of your life (FREE workout enclosed!). 👊❤

You're the architect of your life (FREE workout enclosed!). 👊❤

Stephanie Ondrusek
mindset, FAQs + hacks, workouts

We are the architects of our lives. We get to construct what we want, every single moment of every single day. We don’t have to give our power away, believing that happiness comes when we get the perfect partner, the perfect job, the perfect home, or the perfect body. We can choose happy – we can choose to be grateful, to be joyful, to be loving – and shift the space in which we find ourselves, even if not a single circumstance has changed. The fascinating part of the Law of Attraction/the Secret/whatever you’d like to call it, is when we act as if we already have what we want, we begin to take the actions that lead us to our end goals, believing that we’re worthy of receiving them (spoiler: you are.).

So, that dream job? Dream life? Dream body? You got it, dude.

I've Been Kicking Butt for 3 Weeks Now...and I'VE GAINED WEIGHT. What Gives?

I've Been Kicking Butt for 3 Weeks Now...and I'VE GAINED WEIGHT. What Gives?

Stephanie Ondrusek
coaching, FAQs + hacks, mindset

This is normal! SO normal. Where we get into trouble is, this happens, and, instead of keeping in mind these 3+ reasons and staying the course, navigating through the murk, we either say f it and give up, or we try to “exercise off” the weight, thereby increasing our appetite even further, binging, and feeling ashamed about it and bringing on the need to pay exercise penance…repeat ad nauseum.

Solution?

I’ve got plenty!

But the first is to key in and pinpoint what’s happening. If there’s no issue with appetite and random binges, it’s probably just #s 1&2, so stick it out for a few more days.

If, like most of us, there is an issue with appetite, then that’s where our mindset work on peace with food comes in. We’ve talked about it here and here, but, summary, is essentially the same, just a little more work: stay the course. Add protein and veggies, evaluate how that feels, maybe add a few carbs or fat, evaluate, repeat.

There’s no deadline on this goal: it’s all a process. What most of us are actually after is being a version of ourselves that’s a little better than the current model. And for that to happen, all that’s needed is small steps full of change. Which take a shitload of courage, certainly, but are doable, especially when we keep in mind that most of our goals really are about how we feel.

Feeling good >>> looking good >>>>>>>> mental food/scale/fitness prison.

An Easy Recipe & Why Losing Weight Doesn't *Always* Mean Eating Less

An Easy Recipe & Why Losing Weight Doesn't *Always* Mean Eating Less

Stephanie Ondrusek
fooooood, mindset

The problem here is that we often are so used to eating the same thing or the same way day in and day out- especially while “on a diet”- that we haven’t paid attention to the cues our bodies are giving us in years. So, when we’re in a phase of life where we’re exercising less (either more skewed toward recharge activities or due to illness/lack of motivation/injury), instead of naturally eating less but still gravitating towards what serves us (veggies, proteins, fat as needed for delicious factor), we’re used to blindly following a plan, failing at it, and falling victim to the f it effect: “f it, I already had a burger instead of grilled chicken…I’ll get fries too. And a beer.” This leads to us feeling bloated and sluggish, with a heaping side order of shame that we failed yet another plan.

There’s a better way: eat more slowly, pay attention to our hunger levels, eat until satisfied, and see how our energy levels respond, which will tell us if we hit the Goldilocks spot (not too little, not too much, but just right).

This is a process- one that doesn’t get finished overnight!- of learning what our bodies are telling us and when. It won’t be perfect the first (or second…or tenth) try, but I can assure you that, if we stick to the process of seeing what happens when we eat well and adjusting if we experience negative effects (bloat, gassiness, energy crashes), there will come a time where food is just food, not the mental equivalent of the balance beam, and what works for our desired outcomes will be intuitive.

HANGER: Why it happens and how to fix it.

HANGER: Why it happens and how to fix it.

Stephanie Ondrusek
FAQs + hacks, coaching, fooooood

“Hyper-palatable, highly-rewarding, heavily-processed” food… you know, the stuff you find yourself face-first in after a few drinks or that terrible argument with your partner… is a major disruptor. Have you ever noticed that after eating a whole can of Pringles/2lbs of Sour Patch Kids/half a pizza, that you don’t really feel full…or even satisfied? Foods like this light up the pleasure centers of our brain and override our natural “stop” signals. We keep eating, ignoring that we’re stuffed, waiting until we feel sick or blacked out or there’s none left. Typically, these foods also contain relatively few nutrients, so we haven’t nourished our bodies properly: we’ve consumed a ton of calories, very few of which are actually serving us. We’ve moved from mixed eating into pure hedonic eating, and this hormone loop disruption is why it’s so hard to control: our natural regulatory system gets interrupted, and we feel powerless to stop it, as our innate stop-gap measure is thrown out the window.