I have been reading this book called “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown and when I say reading, I more mean listening to the audiobook while cooking, exercising, cleaning, working, etc. You know, #multitasking is my specialty! If I actually sit down to read a book, I fall asleep! Anyone else with me!?
This book has brought up a lot of great insight into what is “essential” in my life to make me feel fulfilled. One quote really struck me while listening was, "if you are not choosing your priorities in life, someone else will! "Wow! I thought this was an extremely powerful statement and one that really resonated with me.
I wanted to chat about this today because I feel this book can help in many areas such as dieting and weight loss, and how people are struggling so much with seeing progress. I truly feel a big reason why many struggle is because the majority of people are not focusing on the “essentials” that are needed to actually see the progress they are wanting to see. They are wasting their time on the “non essentials” rather than taking a step back and focusing on the bigger picture.
So what does this mean?
The non essentials I see people focusing on for weight loss that are NOT important are:
- Drinking greens every morning
- Taking fiber supplements
- Fasting 16 hours
- Cutting out sugar, carbs, fat
- Eliminating gluten and dairy
- Going by their apple watch to burn calories
- Telling themselves they are not going to drink wine, eat desserts, etc.
- Holding onto willpower in moments that “throw them off track”
Do all of these things technically help us be “healthier”? Maybe! But, they are not the needle movers to your overall progress nor what we need to be spending our time and energy on to see body fat loss (if that is your goal of course!)
Let me ask you…
- How are you getting a healthy meal and snack in front of you 80% of the time?
- How are you hitting your protein goal... consistently?
- How are you hitting your hydration goal...consistently?
- How are you being active outside of exercise time...consistently?
- How are you doing resistance training and strength training…consistently?
If you do not have answers to these questions above and you have no consistency with these strategies above, then YOU ARE NOT FOCUSING IN ON THE ESSENTIALS.
I want you to take a step back this week, away from the “nitty gritty details”, and focus on coming up with a plan on how you will conquer these essentials.
If you need help laying the foundation, I highly recommend checking out my Gray30 course!
Talk soon!
Emily