Build it Beautiful Podcast

The Tuning Forks

Posted on November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 by Clarissa Thomas

There’s a quote that says it takes four weeks for you to see a difference, 8 weeks for close friends to see a difference, and 12 weeks for the rest of the world to see a difference. This quote hones in on something that’s been on my mind.

a health coach can help you hold a high vibration

About 150% of the time (no kidding) when I have a health coaching client who is doing really well they hit an interesting roadblock. The roadblock comes because when you make changes and others notice, others think that it is now their job to give you input about this change. Usually the input comes when we change because others become uncomfortable because they liked the old you or behaviors, or because they are curious towards your success and they want the same for themselves.

What usually happens with my clients though is that they do great until people start making comments and then, when people start making comments, it makes them uncomfortable and these clients have a revert to past behaviors to soothe this discomfort. So as a health coach, working with my female clients, we have to start learning how to be uncomfortable with other people being uncomfortable and voicing that discomfort.

I don’t know if you know about a tuning fork, but when you use a tuning fork on, let’s say, a rock and hit it, the tuning fork will play a vibration/note according to that rock. If you were to take a second tuning fork and hit another rock that second tuning fork would play the note of that second rock. Now this is where things get interesting. If both of those tuning forks are playing those notes/vibrations at the same time eventually the one tuning fork will change its note to match the other tuning fork. And then they will play together.

What does this have to do with health?

When you make changes in your health you are changing your vibration. It may have been low but you have raised it with new habits and applied knowledge. You could have lost 10 pounds or are cleaning up your diet. You could have been going to the gym when you used to be very sedentary. When you hold that vibration long enough other people will notice that your vibration is different.

Everybody else in the world also holds a vibration. You could also call it a vibe or energy. When two vibrations meet and they are not on the same note, one vibration will need to change to meet the other in order to soothe the dissonance.

So the question is, who is going to change their vibration? And the second question is, how long can one hold out for the other to change?

It is a lot easier for those who are trying out a new vibration in life like becoming more healthy to drop down into their previous vibration. An example of this could be when a mom goes to wake up their kids in the morning. The mom’s happy to see her kids but her kids wake up ornery. She has tried to change her vibration by being happy but their vibration is low. So what happens? The mom drops her vibration to the kids’ vibration and starts yelling at them instead to get out of bed.

So what would have happened if the mom would have kept up her vibration? Well after a certain couple of minutes when the kids have really woken up they will probably raise their vibration to be happy and then they will continue on their morning in a happy positive way.

Here are some personal examples, because these vibration dissonances are happening all the time in our lives:

When I started my health journey I started having a protein shake everyday. My husband gave me a hard time at first saying how gross it looked, and continued in his own vibration of old habits. I held onto my new habit, and about five years later, he had a protein shake.He’s had one almost every day since.

On the flip side of that I was trying to level up my eating game this past year and went on a family vacation with my extended family. When we got to our destination together, the first meal that was offered was not something that was on my meal plan. I was so tired and worn out from traveling, and even though I knew it wasn’t on plan. I ate that meal. It caused a domino effect. The whole trip ended up with me moving back to expected vibrations because I was weak and dropped mine one time. That’s all it took. One time. I dropped my vibration down to what it used to be in many ways besides just my meal plan – from moods, to comments, to birth order roles and expectations. I’m sure you can relate to this. I am not proud of that vacation this past year.

Even after a couple of months since the trip, I don’t look at that vacation very fondly. I wasn’t true to myself and I didn’t keep promises to myself. I also didn’t hold off long enough for my family to raise their vibration because I was scared of what they would think of me or the comments that they would make.

I didn’t remember, but I want you to remember that when others comment about you, it is a direct reflection of them, not you. It is their noticing your vibration has changed and they feel that dissonance. It is their way of trying to regain control of the feelings they are having.

When you get to that point in your health journey of people making comments, be it family, friends, neighbors, etc, check into your vibration. Ask yourself if you would like to drop your vibration back down to where others will feel comfortable and your habits were the ones that didn’t get you to a good place, or would you like to keep your new vibration long enough for others to meet your vibration and for you to continue to feel proud of the work you’ve done?

That is what you are in control of. Hold that vibration.

What are ways to keep that vibration strong?

Honestly, I see the greatest strength come in numbers. Accountability with friends or a coach like me is a great way to hold strong. I meet with my clients to coach once a week and then also have check-ins. But my clients can text me anytime if it is an emergency. That is part of why you need a coach. That cheerleader and coach rooting you on and keeping your high vibration with you. Friends or other family can also do this for you, but tend to also be emotionally bias, so beware of that.

Second is to be honest with those around you. Don’t skirt about the issue. It isn’t their cooking! And even if it was, you are working with your body and mind to level up. When we state out loud what we are working on, we gain strength from new places. It is empowering.

Third, feel free to take some time. Sometimes I need to excuse myself to the bathroom to take a quick minute to check my intentions and habits. You could retreat to your room and do some breathing exercises. Putting space between the action and reaction is helpful. This time also helps you stay present and mindful.

As we head into holidays there will be lots of people who have worked really hard to change their vibration. They have new habits and new lifestyles and maybe a new shape that they are taking back to old energies. Does the term “falling off the bandwagon” ring a bell? That is losing your new vibration and dropping down to expected old ones.

If you really don’t want to come out of the holidays like that, consider setting up a free consultation with me and see if we are a good fit to coach together. I want health for you in body + mind. I am ready for you to take on this new vibration and can be that strength you need as you learn a new lifestyle and go through the learning process 🙂

Fill out the form linked below to get the coaching ball rolling. Those holidays are barreling in fast.

Yes! I want to hold a high vibe!

The Tom Brady Syndrome

Posted on November 1, 2022November 1, 2022 by Clarissa Thomas

In my personal life I have been studying a lot about loss. In the next couple months I have some big changes coming up in my life as I have known it. I have felt such angst and stress about choosing these changes and implementing them that they have caused a lack of sleep and an inability to function well as a mother and coach.

For one thing, these future changes are my choice instead of something that is forced and two, I have never really done well with change. whenever we would go on an extended break or Holiday from school like Christmas, the first week back of school I would always get sick. This happened a lot in college. When the semesters changed and my routine needed to change, my body would get some sort of cold or flu, and I’d be down for the count and miss days of school. Even though I’m not in school now, whenever there are big changes or big events in my life or family life, I ramp up to them and then afterwards I get sick either mentally or physically.

On a side note, doesn’t this example show that our mental state can affect our physical state. More to come on those thoughts in an article soon.

So with me loving routine these changes have been ridiculously difficult to fathom and make. Therefore I have taken it to some of the doctors that I work with to talk to them about which changes and how much change I need to be able to heal and balance that with keeping myself mentally happy. I love where I’m at right now, but I recognize that some change is good and change will allow me to grow but also heal some health issues I am experiencing.

As I have talked with professionals about these changes my therapist brought to light a syndrome that we want to call the Tom Brady syndrome. It’s something I want to share with you today because it rang so true and felt was easily relatable.

mental health and coaching the mind — training the mind

I’m going to assume that you know who Tom Brady is and if you don’t go and Google him. In a very short sentence he, being an amazing football player, retired from football and after a short time unretired from football and went back into the game.

As a top football player and a high-performance achiever I can only understand why he went back to football. He loves the dopamine rush and the 100% for filament that he gets from winning a game and being the top performer in his industry and Sport. One can only understand that retiring from that was a severe loss for him and probably caused mental sadness and emotions that he wasn’t used to having because he was so used to all the good emotions that he experienced while playing football and winning.

Interestingly enough, what has happened since he has gone back to the game are also interesting losses. his wife and he have gotten a divorce. His wife was his biggest fan and was a key contributor to his success as a football player. For example, she monitored every little bit of food that went into his mouth so that he was fueled properly and also was in charge of making sure he had boundaries so he could recover.Something else that has happened since coming back to the game, he’s losing.

So I want to discuss 3 points about the Tom Brady syndrome that you can see in what Tom Brady is going through right now.

The Tank

The first point is called the tank. The tank is where a professional is at the top of their career and due to age, injury, circumstances or other professionals coming into the same industry, etc, this professional starts to tank in their success rate and is not at the top of their game or career anymore.

With Tom Brady coming back out of retirement and losing all of these games is showing that he is starting to tank.

So the question for you is: should Tom Brady finish his career of football at the high or should he continue in football as he tanks and finish at a low? What do you think that would do to his mental health as well as the story that people will tell about him for years to come?

The next question there would be where are you at and your career? Do you think you have reached your Peak do you think you still have room to grow or do you think you are in the tank?

I have noticed in my personal Journey that due to the injuries and health problems I’m experiencing, I am in the tank. I have not been able to give what I used to be able to give and it has been discouraging and sad. I appreciated the advice that I received to not tank fully and exit at the low but to exit at the high.Honestly I think when we exit at a high we can look back with fond memories and there is closure.

The Acceptance

The second point is called acceptance. The acceptance is the concept that after we leave or turn away from our original trajectory and goal we might experience loss in the manner that whatever we do instead might not be as fulfilling as the thing we did first.

For Tom Brady, he probably should go out and buy a football team. That’s the closest thing that he could do to recreate the happiness that he experienced as the football player. However he probably will only be able to receive 90% of his fulfillment back compared to the 100% that he might have gotten as a player himself. That is part of loss.

It is good for us to recognize that in Los we may not be able to get back to the hundred percent fulfillment that we had. Very rarely will somebody experience something that is better than what they were originally doing when they were at the top of their game.

If you are aware of this you would be grasping for straws and probably looking outside of yourself for inner peace. Just like Tom Brady coming back out of retirement. He probably couldn’t find something that would fulfill him just as much as playing football did and he didn’t know how to handle that and sit with that. Then he has the consequence of losing his wife now because he chose to come back out of retirement and that is not what she wanted or was told would happen.

For me, I don’t know what is coming next after my changes but I do appreciate this concept. I used to dance ballroom at BYU and competed professionally and was doing very well. I stopped dancing because my body could not get pregnant due to how much physical work I was putting in to dance every day. When I stopped I experienced a severe depression for a long time. For years I couldn’t even watch the progress of my fellow dancers because I knew where I “should have been” in the dance world. I don’t think anything I have done in the dance realm since has been as fulfilling as being a competitor on the dance floor and winning. It still hurts 13 years later and now having an understanding that fulfillment might not reach capacity has helped me release the pain because of those expectations being replaced with acceptance.

The Vacuum

The final concept of the Tom Brady syndrome is the vacuum. And on a side note, I’m grateful for spell check, because I still don’t know how to spell vacuum without help. LOL.

The vacuum is where when you take something out of your life it will put a force into the universe that will pull something new into that empty space.

Tom Brady had a really big empty space because he had a very big, successful, Limelight career. Again oh, he didn’t have the tools nor the patience to wait for something else to come along to fill that space.

Along with that I feel like if we understand that there will be a vacuum we can be looking for opportunities and we can recognize that some opportunities will be good ones and some will be bad ones or destructive ones that will not help us.

When covid shut my job down as a group fitness instructor there was a big loss there. I was tumbled into this space that created a vacuum and needed to be filled. Some of the things that filled that space were good and I’ll talk about those in a second, but some of them were not so good. I didn’t eat well. I lost a lot of my discipline and my hope for the future. In fact, I think that I am still recovering from what that vacuum brought to me and what I chose. Now like I said, some of those opportunities were good ones. I ended up taking clients virtually during covid and really laid a good foundation to be a personal trainer and nutrition coach online. if it weren’t for covid and that loss I would not have had that space replaced.

Right now I don’t know what is going to fill the space from the loss that I am going to incur in the next couple of months. I was feeling anxious about that. There are a lot of what-ifs. But I am finding that because of the awareness that there is a vacuum I am handling the unknown a lot better. In fact, there’s a part of me that is really looking forward to what might open up for me in opportunities that are constructive and helpful to me and the next season of My Life.

So finishing up, let’s review the Tom Brady syndrome. The Tom Brady syndrome has three main facets. The first facet is the tank, the second is the acceptance, And the third is the vacuum.

Maybe you can look back on a couple of your losses and think about these three aspects. Then, being aware of these three aspects when you go into a new loss, which will happen because we are all mortal and human, maybe, because you have awareness of them you will be able to more gracefully and strongly handle your next loss in a way that will help you come out of that more refined and better.

At least that is my hope because I am seeing that work in my own life.

Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat

Posted on October 24, 2022October 24, 2022 by Clarissa Thomas

One of my favorite summer events is taking a boat out to the middle of a lake, turning it off, and just sunning on the back bench. I love the feeling of the boat gently rocking in the waves, the hot, sun-warmed vinyl from beneath my body, and the intensity of the Utah sun beating down from above.

nutrition and personal training for women — Photo by Ahmed Zayan

Can you relate to this peaceful feeling?

Unfortunately, this moment of peace always has an ending.

I remember at a lake here in Utah we had stopped the boat. After resting for a while I sat up only to find our boat was mere feet from a rocky shoreline. From past experiences (*cough cough*), I knew the boat, being that close to the shore, was in a red zone. It was going to be a huge risk to start the motor and the propeller without a rock mangling it and therefore hindering our ability to get to the dock. We were in a bad place.

It took a lot of effort and teamwork to get the boat away from the rocks, start it up on a prayer, and head away from danger.

I’ve thought about this experience a lot and have really built a beautiful analogy from it relating to whole health that I want to offer you today.

As humans, we are wired for the desire to find and accrue peace. Those moments of weightless peace on the boat? Yeah, we seek that out constantly. Effortlessness that comes easy. Haven’t you heard so many people say, “it seems so easy for ‘so and so’ to lose weight,” or, “stay constant,” or, “be able to eat anything they want and not gain weight.”

So we are searching for those moments where we can turn off the boat and relax in the Sun so to speak, but if we do that we tend to slowly drift towards red zones. For example, if I don’t track the foods that I eat I have a tendency to just take one bite or just one more piece of chocolate and the next thing I know after a couple days or weeks, I have lost complete control of my healthy eating. Same thing goes with missing exercise or your journal and meditation for the day.

The effort it takes to get away from that red zone is a lot and usually cannot be completed without members of a team in your boat. Now I’ll come back to your team in a second but I want to point that out. In your help red zones what does it take to get out of that zone? In my example it could be that I go through my kitchen and throw out everything that could cause me to overeat; or it could look like menu planning for the week and then putting that into an app.

Once you pull away enough from that Red Zone you can turn on the motor and really make some progress ( this might look like those first initial 5 lb that you lose or the ability to work out 5 days or 6 days in a week). The next question would be where are you headed next? That new destination is just like when we make goals.

When We choose to make goals we choose to move into the neighborhood of success and failure. Success and failure live next to each other. How does this relate to our boat?

It seems to me that when I have been on a boat heading for a destination it never fails that there’s some sort of friction that comes upon me. It’s to be expected. That friction could look like waves, other boats, wind, rocks, not quite knowing where we’re going, or even disagreement within my boat. But it is bound to happen.

When you make a goal you Essentially turn on the motor of your boat and head towards that goal. Those obstacles and frictions that come up will come up because you are trying to go somewhere. They make you work harder than just floating with the motor off. Sometimes you might lose sight of your goal. But if you are headed in the right direction with the right behaviors you will resurface so to speak and find her goal again.

Ironically enough when I’m talking to my clients I find that when we set a goal we tend to expect that it will be effortless or it is effortless while we turn our boat around and get it started in the first 10-15 ft but then after that it becomes harder.

But it is the friction actually allows us to make progress. If our boat was in the air in the prop was going at full speed you wouldn’t go anywhere. We need that water we need those waves in order to get us movement.

Now onto the next idea that I wanted to come back 2 was about the crew in your boat. Who do you want in your boat? Who will get you or help get you to your destination safely, more efficiently? either out of their previous experience or their skill set to help you man the boat. we want a good team on our side..

Two weeks ago when I talked to my client about this exact analogy I asked her who she wanted in her boat. She talked about her husband who supported her unconditionally in her goals. She talked about having me as her coach in the boat. And then she also talked about a woman who is a friend that she looks up to. So it wasn’t necessarily somebody who had skills but it was somebody she aspired to be like and be friends with; who could give her courage when the waters got rough.

In your boat it could look like a doctor, it could look like a therapist, family, friends, colleagues, boss, a lady down the street, somebody who always has your back, or somebody who can help you think rationally as well.

We could continue to find parallels with this analogy, so if you discover one for yourself, consider sharing it below. However, to come full circle with the final points of this analogy…

We tend to go easy and want to turn off our boats, but when we do we drift without control into Red zones.
When we make goals we essentially are turning on the motor of our boat and we will need friction in order to make progress.
The crew inside your boat will make or break your ability to reach your mile marker goal

So my question to you today is: What areas of your health are you floating with the motor off and, unbeknownst to you, heading for a red zone?

As a personal trainer, nutrition coach, and behavioral help coach I get in the boat with you. I help you have awareness of where you are on the lake and, As you make help goals, help you know how to navigate the friction will be ahead. We work together to be able to man your boat.

If this is something that has sparked some thoughtfulness in you, consider sharing it with a friend or family member and consider setting up a free consultation with me to see if we will be the right crew together to reach your new destination. I’d be honored to work with you.

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Finding a Whole Health Coach

Posted on October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 by Clarissa Thomas

What is health to you? What is in the description you’d give and what is excluded?

Next question: Is your health important to you? This means that what you said above is included in your health. Can you say that it is and each factor of your definition is thriving?

For example, if spirituality was included in my definition of health (not just exercise or diet), then I would need to account for my level of current spirituality when I thought about the importance of health and level of whole health in my life.

When I decided to become a coach, it was because I was missing a coach that considered ALL of what was important to ME as a client. I was getting “eat this like I did” and “do this workout according to what’s written.” I was missing the individual, whole health aspect and therefore didn’t come away with a lifestyle change. Because I couldn’t find the coach I was needing, I figured that there were people out there who also weren’t finding what they needed. So I became the coach I needed.

So what is WHOLE health to you? Have you found a coach that considers your full definition?

Whole health to me considers – physical, nutritional, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, financial, and environmental. Among many other things, it looks at genetic disposition, sleep, dietary needs, time constraints, and more. It shifts day to day, week to week, and even year to year.

May sound really complicated, and it is! That is why having a coach who can help you settle into your individual whole health is important. The navigation is tiring on our own right? It is always better to have a guide in untapped territory.

Whole health is comprised of basic guidelines for the many different areas of life, and then within those basic guidelines are the individual applications to each person. But it can be hard to know what individual applications you need to apply without someone who has been through and knows ins and outs of the road you are travelling on.

As a coach I help teach the umbrella of whole health guidelines and then we define, through a journey, what the personal needs are.

You need someone who can clearly see, through experience, how to help you navigate your health journey. Then you won’t feel lost, you won’t feel alone, and you WILL navigate successfully your individual whole health.

15 Weeks of Bikini Prep?!

Posted on June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

I have just completed 15 weeks of a bikini prep program. No competition but all the work to get to one. Let’s say, I started full force with great success and came crawling through mud to the end. Wow, did I learn SO much! Pros and Cons! I cannot wait to share these things with you. As always, it may look different for each one of you. All our bodies are SO different and circumstances/lifestyles – so what I needed, wanted, experienced is all from my perspective and not through others. I’d love to hear what you have learned if you have done one before.

First, I wanted to start with my why and motivation. For years I have pushed hard in the exercise realm and also ate well. But I noticed I was missing some key components to getting “ripped.” I wanted to prove to myself that getting my body fat % below 15% was possible and doable without a gym membership. I also was totally ready to grow as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. I wanted to experience the process so I can coach my own clients with empathy, understanding, and vision.

Next in the process. You start at a moderate but low calorie amount. Foods are mainly one ingredient foods with some exceptions. No sugar, no dairy, no gluten. Pairings of foods are placed together to give you the most bang for your pound. Every week there are subtractions or replacements to your feeds so you eat less but your body adapts because they are well placed adjustments. Exercise runs the opposite course – five one-hour sessions to six two- to three-hour sessions a week.

Alright, without further ado, my list. I have been pondering on this for about 5 weeks now as I came dragging into the homestretch. They are in no particular order and definitely aren’t exclusive to all of my thoughts.

The same insecurities I had 18 pounds ago are the same insecurities I have now.
Eating whole, one ingredient foods make me feel the best
I am emotionally connected to food
I am socially connected to food
There was a point where my body rejected more programming and I needed to pull back for a while and reset.
My mental health is almost MORE important than my physical health. Without good mental health, anything good I pursue didn’t matter.
Eating one ingredient foods and ridding my body of sugar, gluten, and dairy changed three things drastically that weren’t my size – my acne is all but gone, my hormones were in a better balance range, my mental health is DEPENDANT on whole, one ingredient foods
You need a good coach to guide you and talk you off of the wall at times
You need serious accountability to make serious changes
This world is obese because of added sugars and too little protein
What you learn about yourself is WAY more important than the results at the end
Even a small step forward is a BIG win!
I wanted to throw the towel in multiple times and I am SO thankful that I gritted up and tried again – because 80% or even 50% or even 30% is better than 0%
Different goals require different nutrition and exercise programs —- too many women try to do everything ALL at once. Example: I had a client text me to see if I could coach her while she 1) lost weight 2) built 10 lbs of muscle 3) trained for a triathlon 4) wanted to intuitively eat. Yikes! We do better when we pick one or we’ll be knocking heads with the cross points of our goals.
Supplementation is a must with a cutting diet
Timing in your eating is IMPERATIVE to keeping muscle and not crashing mid-day.
You can do anything!!!
Because of this program, I have revamped parts of my nutrition coaching in what I have learned and am implementing it to be a better coach for you.
If you don’t eat right, you won’t see change. I swear nutrition is 90% of the equation to body change.
Get a coach! Nuff said there!
Food can be ritualistic and there’s definitely a FOMO in certain ritual situations (like my birthday) when you don’t eat what everyone else is eating and what you look forward to so much.
I love allowing myself a treat on Sunday’s. It keeps me sane.
Sugar makes me feel SO junky and slow and bloated and all the wrong things.
But my body craves sugar if I am not eating the right kinds of foods at the right times.
When you lose enough weight to change clothes sizes, it is really strange and difficult to fork up the money to purchase new stuff.
Sometimes weight drops don’t lead to clothing size drops. Don’t go there with expectations.
When you lose a bunch of weight, there is a fear of gaining it all back every single time you eat or shop for a new clothing size or get close to finishing your program.
You can’t possibly maintain a super low weight on a restricted diet without injuring your hormones or body in general.
To achieve an extremely low body fat %, it will take complete sacrifice of all else. Between meal prep, recovery, and gym time, it is hours of each day. Too many women want the body but aren’t willing or can’t do 3 hours a day, 6 days a week in the gym.
My body can’t eat cake and cut weight at the same time.
It is always about trusting the process and hanging onto your coach’s knowledge
There is an end to every season – from the actual program and challenge it was to even the weight I ended with, it is all temporary and the only thing certain is change.
Peanut Butter is king!
My body craves nuts and peanut butter when I am in a calorie deficit – like cannot stop thinking about anything in that realm.
This is a lifestyle I’d like to continue in – I truly was eating the right foods, just in a deficit. So now, I get to keep eating them in, but more!!!
You can fuel your body super efficiently with whole, one ingredient food.
It is all about finding volume foods and spices to liven and fill you.
There is always an event or an excuse. There just is.
Foods during low hormone phases vs high hormone phases tasted and pleased/disgusted differently.
Two hours in the gym plus little caloric intake wipes you out. YOU MUST REST and rest MORE.

So here are some before and after photos – honestly, I can’t see much change in myself but I FEEL better and have had others notice a difference. I guess it is all the eye of the beholder and sometimes we have to hold onto how others see us if we cannot see that change and know there is one.

Hopefully you have gained some insight into all the thoughts (even contradicting ones) of a rigorous program. There is a right season to everything, just not all at once. That is why I NEVER give my clients the same program as anyone else and NEVER try to achieve too many goals at one time. Everything is thought out to where the client is at and the circumstances they are in and where they want to be. Time, accountability, and consistency in anything is key and that is what I, as your coach, can do for you.

If you’d like to take a 12 week nutrition coaching course, do a bikini prep program, or get some amazing personal, personal training, reach out via the Contact Us link in the Train menu up top. I’d love to coach with you.

Overall, would I do the program again? Yes, I would, and I am planning on it already – I know there is more progress I can make. Would I make some changes in how the program is set up and given? Yes, I would. Was I perfect in keeping with my guidelines? Nope, I definitely had fails, but we have to be honest in our mortal bodies. Can I be a better coach because of this? Yes, I can and have already implemented some of the process to dos into my coaching to get better results for my clients.

***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational and journaling purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***

This is PMDD – Day 20

Posted on April 14, 2021April 14, 2021 by Dan Thomas

I once saw a thriller movie and at one point in a scene, there was blood oozing under the door frame into the closet where the actor was hiding. The actor had no idea what was going on until there was so much blood, he was 4-5 inches deep and it was “too late” for him. He succumbed to the monster with a blood curdling scream. I always wondered why that scene stuck with me… until it made a lot of sense for me today.

That’s what I start feeling around day 20-22 in my PMDD cycle. Everything is going wonderfully up until that point. In fact, yesterday I was just thinking how much energy and drive I had and how I could keep up with my goals for sure! I would smash my PMDD out of the water and win this month. I just knew it.

But today I noticed the muck leaching under the closet door.

It came in a way of noticing my bloated belly and my 4 lb weight gain overnight. How could I possibly send that to my coach?!

It came when I just couldn’t get the seam on my sock to sit right in my shoe or the drawstring on my pants kept loosening. I didn’t hate those pants last week, they were my uniform and now I can’t wait to get rid of them.

It leached more when I looked at my calendar and had dread of this coming weekend. Too many social events and planned things I need to “show up” for… panic, sweat, heat… how do I cancel these? Too much going on.

It came in more when I realized that my whole house was SO dirty and I am the ONLY one who seems to care. The load of work gets heavier and I notice everything wrong.

It leached when one hand on my back from my husband sent so much electric energy into my body I was awake for another hour trying to calm back down. OVer stimulation of simple things.

It rose with foggy mind issues, frustration of my hair today, feeling SO gross that I haven’t had time to shower and shave since Saturday and the hairs are catching on my leggings. In my workout where I couldn’t even look myself in the eyes I was that disgusted with who I am.

And with all these things I think, “That’s just weird. I know those thoughts and feelings aren’t who I am. I wonder what is going on?”

After a certain point in my day, it hits me. Every time, it hits like a bus. PMDD is here again. And I sorrow. I ache. I mourn.

For the life I am losing. For the pain I will cause. For another month, another round, another destroyer coming though of all that I had tried to build the past two weeks.

And I am tempted to just sit in the muck and let the monster take me too.

The Break Up with Sugar Strategies – Part 3

Posted on January 29, 2021January 29, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

Let’s talk sugar strategy here… Now remember that everyone’s definition and needs are different. Why? We are all on different health paths and our readiness or behavioral change journeys are different too. So take what you feel to apply to you to help you be just one step better and work on it.

We are talking three strategies today – food ingredients, abstaining vs moderating, and replacing. Along with some other tips to get your sugar break up started, there is something for everyone here.

First item of business, learning how to find sugar in your foods. You won’t find it on the front of a label, but you can search for it in a couple places on the back of labeled foods. Here are five tips that I use with my clients on nutrition labels:

The best tip I can give is to purchase foods that come with NO ingredient labels. Can you think of any? Like fresh meats, fruits, veggies, etc.
Going along with #1, if it does have a nutrition label, try to stick to less than 5 ingredients. The number is pretty arbitrary but the principle is that the less ingredients, usually the less processed. And less processed usually means more nutrients because they haven’t been stripped away during the processing and random additives put back in.
In looking at the ingredients, if there is sugar (see the many names below), try to look for foods that do not have sugar in the top 5 ingredients. The top 5 ingredients mainly constitute the bulk of the food you are eating, so the further down, the better.
There are SO many names for sugar (see section below). Companies are getting smarter about the placement of sugar on their ingredient list. To make sugar later on the list, they are actually using more than one kind of sugar to break things up so there are two + types of sugar in your product, but all those sugars can add up to a lot. So educate yourself on the names of sugar and what you need to look for on a label.
Look at the added sugar line in the nutrition facts. If it has less that 10 grams of ADDED sugar, you are pretty good for a more whole food.

So an apple doesn’t come with a label (good), it has less than 5 ingredients (good), and there is NO added sugar (even though they are super sweet). These are just great basic guidelines to practice in your shopping.

Next strategy is to learn if you are an Abstainer or Moderator. This comes from the amazing book of Gretchen Ruben called The Four Tendencies. Such a great read btw and worth your time! Helped me parent and wife in a whole new way. Anyway, she talks about people who are really good at being moderators and those that find it easier to just abstain. My hubby is a total moderator. He can take one bite of cake, taste it, and say no more. Me? I have a slice. Then a second. Then a third. And the rest of the pan when I am cleaning up. Then I’m sick. It is like I don’t have a system that tells me to stop. I’m that way in a lot of other areas of my life too. So it is MUCH easier for me to say NO to everything. And it works really well once I get going.

This can help you decide better how a sugar strategy might look for you.

During my luteal phase of my PMDD cycle I HAVE to be a complete abstainer because my hormones mess with my ability to regulate/moderate. During the follicular phase when hormones are running my body through a wringer, I am much better at regulation and can relax a little bit, but still do try to stay in the abstainer habit. Just makes it easier for me.

If you are a moderator, it is helpful to set your limit before you eat your sweets so you stick to that with no exceptions. I have heard that after three bites of a dessert you really don’t taste it anymore. So you could set yourself at three bites, one small slice, one cookie, etc. We actually have set some guidelines like this with our girls. I talked a little about this in part 2 of this series but we have set that we only do baking on saturday or sunday, we don’t purchase and premade sweets from the store, and we only need one serving of what we make and can share the rest.

This has saved our house immensely. There is less pressure to eat sweets as a “snack”, less pressure to snitch sweets because there aren’t any lying around, and we are enjoying our sweets more because we are making them ourselves! The girls (I only have girls) also can have any candy they get from school, class, friends, etc. There is no pressure from us as parents there because we know that there isn’t the rest of the bag. Loved setting some guidelines on health with our girls. They were part of that discussion. We talked about fully abstaining or allowing everything and we found what would work for use as a whole.

The next strategy is a replacement strategy. I love to use this one with my clients but it always seems to take a while to kick in because we have to remember we have options and in the middle of a craving, this can be tough. The idea is this: instead of focusing on what you can’t have, what are some things you can have without guilt and that also add nutrients to your body.

Other ways to cut back on added sugars:

Sugary drinks – stick with sparkling water, Zevia soda, herbal teas, infused water (I love mango and strawberries), and pure water
Avoid Sauces and Condiments – stick with spices, herbs, mustard, salsa (no sugar added), vinegars, and pesto.
Eat more healthy and full fat foods – there is usually more added sugar in low fat varieties of foods to help it taste good. Also healthy and full fat foods make you feel full.
Avoid any processed foods – you can be an unhealthy healthy – stick to as whole foods as possible
Watch your breakfast – one of the sweetest meals of the day – start your day with a good protein and fat filled meal – eggs and ham, protein oatmeal, etc
Add your own sugar – purchase unsweetened and then add your own sweetener in like stevia or erythritol.
Don’t keep sugar in the house
Don’t shop when you are hungry
Get enough sleep
Destress!

In conclusion, I hope that this series has been helpful for your awareness and desire to take bits and pieces and apply them to your life to be healthier. It isn’t about perfection, it is about small little steps over time to create a lasting lifestyle.

Below are the many names of sugar. I am sure this list probably isn’t all of them since new products are coming on the market, but it is great to be aware of the names when you are shopping.

The Most Common Names for Sugar

(Excluding artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes)

‍Basic Simple Sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides):

Dextrose
Fructose
Galactose
Glucose
Lactose
Maltose
Sucrose

Solid or Granulated Sugars:

Beet sugar
Brown sugar
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Castor sugar
Coconut sugar
Confectioner’s sugar (aka, powdered sugar)
Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose
Date sugar
Demerara sugar
Dextrin
Diastatic malt
Ethyl maltol
Florida crystals
Golden sugar
Glucose syrup solids
Grape sugar
Icing sugar
Maltodextrin
Muscovado sugar
Panela sugar
Raw sugar
Sugar (granulated or table)
Sucanat
Turbinado sugar
Yellow sugar

Liquid or Syrup Sugars:

Agave Nectar/Syrup
Barley malt
Blackstrap molasses
Brown rice syrup
Buttered sugar/buttercream
Caramel
Carob syrup
Corn syrup
Evaporated cane juice
Fruit juice
Fruit juice concentrate
Golden syrup
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Honey
Invert sugar
Malt syrup
Maple syrup
Molasses
Rice syrup
Refiner’s syrup
Sorghum syrup
Treacle

The Break Up with Sugar Part 2

Posted on January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

After posting the last post, I was surprised and happy to hear how this resonated with so many of you. Breaking up with sugar was something you have either thought about or are putting into practice. I did, however, get some questions that I would like to answer in this post, the second in the Breakup with Sugar Series.

First question I had gotten. What do you define as sugar?

I think how this “breakup” can be defined is mainly left up to who is choosing how to break up. It could be a break up where you go pretty much “KETO” eating only proteins and fats with minimal veggies and fruits. Or it could go to only candy and the “breakup” isn’t necessarily about ALL sugars. As your coach I would ask you how you want that to look like for you right now. What can you leave out that won’t “rock your world” or make you feel “deprived” because if you feel that way, your choice isn’t a lifestyle you can sustain.

Sugars are found in pretty much everything we eat. Not only are we bombarded with sweets (cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, chocolates, ice creams, etc) but then there are ADDED sugars in SO many items in the grocery store (like 99% of grocery items). But there are also natural sugars found in anything with a carbohydrate – from breads to fruits to even veggies because carbohydrates are essentially sugars.

However, our bodies use different kinds of sugars in different ways. So they may all be calories (another word for energy) but the different sugars will leave different results. An oreo is going to affect your body differently than a pear.

Sugar from the Oxford Dictionary is defined as:

noun

a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink.

Our bodies are GEARED for sugar – it was a mechanism for survival before the years and technological advancements in food. But with these advancements, we aren’t in life threatening danger anymore. In fact, humans eat about 700 more calories a day than they did 60 years ago. But also our obesity rate has risen exponentially during that same time. Why? Because of what we are choosing to put in our bodies. Yes, you are in charge.

Why do we love sugar so much outside of survival?

It makes food taste good – most processed foods HAVE to add in sugar (and salt/sodium) to make the food they processed taste good to our pallet
It is quick energy
It is a coping mechanism due to its chemical reaction to our brains = it gives us comfort when in distress
It is everywhere and inexpensive

There are simple and complex carbs/sugars…. Those that hit your bloodstream really fast and those that hit it slower. When sugars hit hard and fast, your blood sugar rises quickly, you get a severe dopamine hit to the pleasure center of the brain, insulin is released to cope and then everything drops steeply to levels below where you started, leaving you low energy, depressed, and not satisfied. When you eat a complex carb the spike and hits are less steep and so is the drop. You also tend to stay heightened for longer before your blood sugar drops. Essentially it takes your body longer to digest the complex carbs.

Coming back to my breakup, I have chosen to define sugar as – all “junk foods or calorie condensed foods in the sweet categories” and as much added sugars as possible are out. With the exception (because moderation in all things) of when my girls bake on the weekend, I can have one serving if I desire.

Your choice of breakup may look different and that’s okay. I picked these guidelines for a couple of reasons, both personally and scientifically… When your diet consists of too many sugars, testosterone (a hormone) rises and can cause weight gain, hair loss or growth in unwanted areas, and anxiety. Estrogen also rises and progesterone (also hormones) can drop which is called Estrogen dominance and can lead to infertility, PMS symptoms, breast tenderness and irritability. Over time the amount of insulin and sugar pulsing through your veins trying to level eachother out gets exhausted and in excess and can cause massive inflammation – which ALL chronic diseases (arthritis, cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, mood disorders, etc) are caused by inflammation.

With PMDD I have found that because I am SO sensitive to normal hormonal changes even a small amount of sugar effects will derail my body and mental health for a long time. If I eat, let’s say, a bowl of ice cream (because who ever eats just a scoop), not only will I have a massive headache, but angry digestive issues from stomach all through the intestines from inflammation and I will also get really foggy in my thinking, less emotionally regulated, and I tend to slip into negative thought patterns really fast. If I have too much sugar (which usually happens if I start with one piece, I eat a lot more) my limbs will even buzz with almost a jittery feeling. I sleep awful and can have body dysmorphia too.

And these things all can happen within an hour of a dessert that has too much for my body. And effects can be lasting long after the sugar rush dies down.

If I were to eat simple sugars/carbs during my luteal phase (the week before my period) my PMDD and sugar buzz are the perfect storm to crash my ship into a million pieces and my PMDD symptoms can be severe and life threatening.

What is so crazy and may be scientific or psychological, but it is truly real for me, I do not get these effects from complex carbs – berries, rice, sweet potatoes, whole grains, veggies, other fruits. So I truly do agree with the studies saying different sugars can affect our bodies differently.

I feel good when I eat right for MY body’s needs today. Period.

So as much as possible, I am saying “nope” to them. However, I mentioned my girls baking. I think that life still needs to be full of memories and making good ones can get us through the bad days. We have decided as a family that if we are going to have sweets, it needs to be something we make from scratch and with love.

***TIP: When coaching my nutrition clients we talk about how if you are going to eat something sweetened – whether that’s yogurt or pasta sauce or cake – it is ALWAYS better to add your own sugar than let a company add it for you. #1 you are in control #2 you can decide what that sweetener is – you could add honey instead of table sugar #3 you know what is going into your food.

In my next post I am going to talk about how to look for sugars (education) and ways to change your food choices (application).

As with all things, we are creating an awareness through these posts and not rigid rules. Once you create awareness, you will be able to look clearly at your food choices and start to gain questions and curiosity on what your body needs. As with all my clients, take what rings true to you and what sparks the “I need to add that in/take that out” promptings and use them to better your life. One little step at a time. It is a process as always.

A way you can do that is to make a list of foods that you eat that make you feel good when you eat them… truly energized and content, and food that make you feel guilty or “buzzed” for lack of a better word. I think we all know what those are for us when we are honest. Just keeping a postit note on the fridge and jotting something down after you eat it can help too.

Break Up with Sugar – Part 1

Posted on January 7, 2021January 29, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

Sugar and I had a good go, but it is time to break up. The more I study about it, the more I just can’t have it as a part of my life. I’m going to have to get my joy ride from something else. For 2021 (and I can’t believe I am saying this out loud and on paper FOR-EV-ER in the clouds) that I am going to try my darndest to go the whole year without it. And, from what I’ve studied, it may take up to 5 years, FIVE, to get the cravings to go away. Sheesh… I’m in it for the long haul. But it is imperative that we breakup.

Not convinced you are ready to say goodbye to your best friend who always has your back, even though you know that they aren’t doing you good? I get that. It is a sneaky one and an addicting one as well. but being open to this idea may help you create some awareness around your body and diet and you may be able to start some simple changes to help your health.

Here are just some of the main ways sugar affects your body. Definitely a big list and seriously not even the tip of the iceberg….

First off, sugar messes with your energy regulation. No one needs energy drops. Eating sugar alone can be an issue too so pair it with a protein and small amount of healthy fat to sustain and regulate energy better.
Sugar can mess with your brain’s ability to regulate. When you eat sugar, you can get the same rush of endorphins that can be equal or even greater than a hit of cocaine to the pleasure center of the brain. And next time, in order to get the same degree of rush, you must eat more sugar. If you are an emotional eater, this could cause a problem with consuming sweets to “feel better.”
Studies are showing that too much sugar leads to higher depression in adults. One of the main thoughts on this is that sugar can give you a burst of energy, but when that energy runs through your body, you body may drop to an even lower state of mood and energy than before. So think twice about hitting up for that mid-afternoon slump. Witching hour anyone? But also sugar decreases and interferes neurotransmitter effectiveness in your brain due to… you guessed it, inflammation of the brain on sugar.
We all know that sugar can rot your gorgeous smile, even if you brush your teeth, your saliva can hold more sugary goodness long after you eat it.
Did you know that sugar can also cause joint aches and pains? Yep. Sugar is an inflammatory, dare I say, DRUG. With that inflammation your joints cannot work in full range of motion and you are more likely to cause injury to them. Too much sugar over time is also linked to rheumatoid arthritis. Yikes!
Inflammation just doesn’t happen in your joints, it can also happen on your skin… hello acne AND wrinkles! We definitely don’t wait to age faster for any reason but that is what sugar is going to do to your skin due to the loss of elasticity because of how sugar reacts with the collagen in your skin. You will get acne because the inflammation causes the fatty layer of your skin to produce more oil and your pores cannot keep up so they get clogged.
When you eat excess sugar, the extra insulin in your bloodstream can affect the arteries all over your body. It causes their walls to get inflamed (another inflammatory response), grow thicker than normal and more stiff, this stresses your heart and damages it over time. This can lead to heart disease, like heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes.
When you eat, your pancreas pumps out insulin to help your blood sugar levels regulate. If you’re eating too much sugar, your body stops responding properly to insulin and regulations. It is on overload. So then your pancreas starts pumping out even more insulin. Eventually, your overworked pancreas will break down and your blood sugar levels will rise, setting you up for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Or even milder symptoms such as bad sleep and heart palpitations… which as a mom, sleep if everything for me!
Added and refined sugars in your diet can increase your risk of cancer. Cancer FEEDS on sugar and so does estrogen which can be instrumental in breast cancer is levels get too high or the hormone mutates.
And it can cause weight gain due to the inflammation stress that happens to your body with increased blood sugar levels. Soda is the biggest offender here because of its concentrated and liquid sugar content.
AND (maybe the most important lol) it can seriously decrease your sex drive because your blood flow isn’t working properly due to the chemicals and sugar fighting throughout your body. I don’t think we need ANY of that going on.

For me, having PMDD, eating sugar really messes with my hormone balance and therefore my mood and body image. The times when I have eaten a sugary diet (around the holidays for example or even a “craving week”), my anxiety and disruptive thoughts skyrocket. I don’t necessarily know the science of why but I can only guess that inflammation has a major part in this change. I feel crappy and therefore I act crappy. Super sciency words right there!

I hate that I don’t sleep well when sugar is a main part of my diet and I feel like I can’t be a good teacher and coach being sluggish. Everything is so connected in my body (and yours) that removing sugar is going to help in SO many areas as I talked about above.

Check out my next post on ways to limit sugar and a further post on some other ideas about sugar. In the meantime, you can watch this video that was produced a while ago, but still so pertinent to the breakup with sugar…

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM&t=69s&ab_channel=UniversityofCaliforniaTelevision%28UCTV%29

Thoughts on December

Posted on December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 by Clarissa Thomas

December is always a month that I see numbers drop at all studios I teach at. Never fails. Because of all the “happenings”, attendance drops and I worry about my students and their health.

At the same time that attendance drops, pounds pile on. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard all about the holiday binge eating and lack of “self control” during these times. Don’t get me wrong, I love food. Food is the key to the soul and speaks to memories and community. It truly is a love language and gathers people. Especially to me.

With this being said, we need to love ourselves. Most of the time, binging or eating too much comes from our lack of connection to food, connection to the real reason we have gatherings, and our fear of missing out or lack for later. Below are a couple of tips for honoring your relationship with food.

Slow Down. Take a deep breath and become mindful of the food you are choosing to eat. Be thankful for the bounty of the holidays.
Get curious. Analyze what you are eating with questions like: Why did I choose to put these foods on my plate? What hints of spices can I taste? What textures are in this and how do they changes as I chew? What could I add or take away that might enhance of change this if I were to make it myself?
Choose foods for health AND fun! It isn’t an either/or event. It is a full event and when you respect, you tend to choose better.
Plan your treats – if you are going to eat something sweet, be present with it and enjoy every single bite. To be honest, I have learned that most sugar isn’t worth it and there are very few desserts that I love that I am willing to have the headache afterwards. It is a tradeoff and I plan with focus.
Be present with the people around you. You aren’t there for the food, you are there to have better relationships with others. Ask those around you as many questions as you can and listen with true curiosity to their answers.
Leftovers… are you hungry, bored, tired, or emotionally wound up? Again, slow down and get curious, go through the same process again. Also, sometimes we also think we are hungry when we really need hydration, so take a drink and wait 10 mins to hit the leftover decision.

If you are feeling guilt after a celebration, get curious why your relationship with food and your body are not happy. This may lead to some coaching needs that I can help you with. We want to have good holiday memories and your guilt will not help that come to pass. We can work together to overcome that roadblock. Just shoot me an email to set up a time to coach – clarissa@adagiofit.com

To finish my thoughts on the month, There is NO bandwagon, but there is your priority, your values, and your behaviors. Priority changes after certain seasons in life but we choose our outcomes by behaviors meshing with our values. So this month, think about what 3 things you need to accomplish every day to come out of the holiday season feeling the best you can and do something each day that lines up with those three things. Exercise is my #1 – I need it to emotionally stabilize daily (ask my hubby and kids). It is probably one of your top three too. Nutrition is my #2 and creation/productivity is my #3.

I’d love to know what your top three are! Drop them in the comments below and enjoy your nutritional feast this week!