This is what I figure I’ve lost since I started my business. 

How? You’re probably going to find it hard to believe. 

My diet. 

Yes, my diet. 

Even though I knew, like we all know, diet is important, I didn’t realize how important it really was to my life and career. 

I mean, sure, I knew I had gained some extra weight during grad school and starting a business. Stress and stress eating, and frankly not paying attention to my diet at all… helped me pack on an additional 45 pounds from my undergraduate days. 

Weight aside… As I look back I absolutely have to kick myself for not realizing how I was affected otherwise. 

I was lethargic. 

I didn’t sleep very well. So, when the alarm would go off, snooze. Then, snooze again. I remember I would give myself a good 30-40 minutes of snoozing daily before rolling out of bed. 

Then, it was off to the races.  I left just enough time to shower, shave, get dressed… and then grab a big travel cup of coffee and head to the office. 

My schedule was such that I saw clients in the AM, then had an hour or two break, then seeing people again until about 6pm.  I would almost always have to take a nap during the break.  Eat and snooze. I remember the overwhelming feeling of tiredness each day after eating lunch. 

I was foggy. 

It’s difficult to describe and I only realized it once it was gone, but I was in a fog most of the time. Occasionally, and only for brief periods of time, I was out of it if I titrated enough caffeine and sugar into my system (just a tad too much and it sent me over the edge into anxiety and jitteriness). But for the most part, I was in that fog. 

That fog made it difficult, even impossible to see a way forward.  That was scary because as an entrepreneur or business owner, one of our superpowers has to be the ability to predict and plan for the future, and this means having a vision of what things will look like 5, 10, 20 years down the road. 

Like actual fog, there was a wall in front of me with no vision much beyond the day to day stuff. 

I had zero ambition. 

Like, none. All of the energy I did have was put into the people I was serving. I prided myself on being present and doing the best I could for each and every one, but if I am being honest with myself, I was running at 50% and even if I did give them 100% of my effort.. It was really only that 50% at best. 

After giving what I could to others, the tank was empty. I would have piles of paperwork piled up on and around my desk that would take me weeks to finish at times. The urgent stuff got done, but if I could put it off, I would put it off. 

Exercise? LOL. Maybe I could whip up enough willpower to get to the gym for a week or two as part of a New Years resolution or after being fed up with how I looked. But, there was no consistency at all whatsoever. 

There were consequences.

Life sucked. I mean, sure, things could have been worse, but I was just getting by. “Grinding it out” as they say. 

My business was stagnant. Just barely breaking even. I knew there were more things I could have been doing, but I couldn’t concentrate and just didn’t have the drive and ambition to get it done. 

Family time also suffered. All I felt like doing when I got home was plopping down on the couch and checking out.  Part of this was a drink or two (wine, etc) which only made things worse. 

My wife and I have an amazing daughter, but I often wonder, if I felt as great as I do now, would our family be even bigger? More kids? Honestly, it’s one of the things I regret in life… not starting a family sooner and having more kids. Feeling the way I did made it difficult to imagine having to keep up with more than one kid at the time. 

The big shift

I’m not sure if I had one ah-ha moment where I decided to change. But, I do remember one time that probably had a lot to do with it. It was around the time Facebook started. My sister had a wedding and I remember seeing people post their phone pics to Facebook.  I saw myself from a few angles. 

“Do I really look like that?”  

I did. 

I was at the heaviest in my life. A solid 40-50 lbs more than I weigh now. 

I also remember another time where we had pictures from a beach trip.  “Man, my face looks bloated” is what stands out from that memory. 

And finding nice clothes for work, impossible. Dress shirts just don’t look good when you have a gut. 

So, over the next few years, I read every dietary book and website out there. I tried a dozen different diets, seeing which ones were sustainable and weren’t over restricted.

Some were better than others, but I remember how I felt once I removed all of the garbage from my diet…

The fog lifted!

Sleep was better!

I had more energy!

I had more drive and ambition to get things done!

I lost 30 lbs and started feeling confident in myself again!

It was so remarkable that I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping everyone learn how to have what I was experiencing. 

I completed 300+ hours of post-graduate training and expanded my business. 

I joined CrossFit and got into the best shape of my life. 

I started practicing Yoga and other daily practices like meditation, reading, etc. 

I get up before my alarm most mornings and go through my morning routine. 

I go through every day feeling good, really good, and no longer nap. Like, I don’t even know if I could if I tried!  

I am super productive all day long. I get more done before 9am than I did before in an entire day. 

I continue to grow and my ambitions are stronger than ever before. There’s no more settling for “just getting by”.  I’m excited to get up each and every day and work to expand my reach and help anyone that is ready. 

Life truly is good and keeps getting better all the time. And it all started with diet? Even though logically I knew diet and lifestyle affected performance, I didn’t truly understand the magnitude of it. 

Ready to write your transformation story? Learn more about our Reset, Renew and Transform Program.

I was brought up on the Standard American Diet. It was all we knew.
 

When I was diagnosed with an ulcer in my stomach at 12 (in addition to asthma and allergies), the medications I was on for over a decade were all my pediatrician knew.

I think that story is familiar to many of our clients. 

I struggled through high school and college, just barely getting by. I had absolutely no focus. 

The foods I was eating were not only causing me to gain weight year after year, but led to chronic blemishes, rashes and constant fatigue. 

I stayed up late partying, followed by 2 am fast food meals - which led to more fatigue, digestive problems, zero drive and lack of confidence. 

It was a vicious cycle.

Time to get in our time machine and flash forward to my first pregnancy (twins!) 

I gained over 90 pounds (yikes!) and slipped back into old, unhealthy habits.  

Hello, old symptoms I thought I had ditched! A way that led me to a host of symptoms at a young age all the way into my mid twenties. 

Nine months after having my twins, I began making my health a priority again, focusing on lifestyle changes and lasting habits. 

When I began this journey, I was back in my size 14’s and they were snug. My digestive issues and allergies and asthma returned with a vengeance. 

I refused to go back on medications that I had already come off of. 

I refused to buy larger clothes. 

It took me well over a year to release 50 pounds. 

I went from those snug size 14’s to wearing a size 4. 

I no longer dealt with digestive issues, allergies or asthma. My skin is completely clear of oil and blemishes.

Three years later, I was pregnant (twins! again!)  

At that moment, I vowed to myself (and my unborn children) that I would not allow this pregnancy to resort to my old eating habits. 

I promised myself that I would continue with clean eating and a healthy lifestyle.

It was around this time that I had connected the dots with my health and my eating habits. As I continue on my journey, I have learned that my food choices create my health. 

I’m happy to share that I’m a mother of four who intentionally wakes up 2 hours before my children and has continuous amounts of energy throughout the day, without relying on that pot of coffee or mid afternoon naps. 

The choices I make daily have given me the energy, focus and drive to:

• Continuously build my business 

• Show up everyday to teach, coach, instruct and lead others how to live their best life. 

• Be present with my husband and feel confident as his wife

• Feel empowered by other women and no longer intimidated by them

Ready to write your transformation story? Learn more about our Reset, Renew and Transform Program.