Nancy knocks it out of the park
Posted in Blog, Hot Topics on May 23, 2019
Author: Dr. Gary Huber
Turning it all around with a simple commitment to ACCOUNTABILITY. Anyone can change their life in a single moment with a simple decision to follow through. It doesn't take years . . . it takes a mental shift.
I have a dear friend who likes to beat herself up with a hammer every other day as she is addicted to pain. The “hammer” is bad food and the “addiction” is truly just our set of old habits that we have created for ourselves. We all do it to some extent. We have a routine we repeat whenever the right combination of stress and fatigue reaches our brain. We relive and replay that same set or neuronal responses and then proclaim that its simply “who we are”. You are 1000% correct it is who you are but the question is “how is that working for you?”
Nancy sat before me 3 months ago with her easy smile and her happy face that always bring me joy. I love spending time with her as she represents what is right in this world. She is caring, understanding, helpful to others and truly a blessing in this world full of cynical whiners. But at our last meeting I challenged her with the notion that perhaps her excuses where becoming dated and tired and I didn't want to keep having the same pep talk only to land in the same set of results (little to none) as we reviewed this month’s list of rationalizations. She cried and I wanted to but held it together. How to you lovingly guide someone you care for? Sometimes you need a cold crowbar to nudge someone off their perch.
We agreed to share accountability with each other. We were both willing to be open and vulnerable and totally transparent. We were going to text each other our perspective Ketone readings from our ketone monitors every week. Slide into a bag of Doritos and your reading will show it. Use ice cream as a solution for stress and the reading will reflect your thinking. From that point forward Nancy starting sharing her numbers and they were FABULOUS!! She was now forcing my hand as I couldn't let her see me drop out as she was rising high. That's the beauty of it. People often assume that it is easy for me, that I am just born Keto and never find temptation . . . WRONG!!! Life is a daily process that requires you to show up and put up an effort. No one gets an easy pass.
Well here is the fun part. Nancy got some recent labs and posted crazy good results, the likes of which she has NEVER seen before. She has been steady but not perfect (who is?) and the result is weight loss to the tune of 18 pounds and her cholesterol has dropped to an all time low. Her LDL which in the past was 152 is now a mere 103. The triglycerides which were once north of 230 are now under 100 (at 95) for the first time ever.
She told her fiancé that she was going to follow through and use this promise to him to outweigh the tendency to lie to herself. This is a great strategy. We will lie to ourselves all the time but look deep into the eyes of someone you love and make a promise to THEM.
Nancy shared with me today that her energy is much better, cognition feels clearer and that her mood is simply lighter and more enjoyable. She feels alive and is taking control of her health and is enjoying feeling empowered.
Moral of this tale is that years of failed efforts do not mean that you are doomed. Every single day, and YES I mean EVERY single day we all need to look in the mirror, smile at our self, decide to be kind to our self and those around us and lovingly pursue a better choice. If I perform just 2% better every day the result of this change in a year will be staggering. Pitch old ideologies and develop the curiosity of a child to explore new foods, new exercise, new sleep habits and stay willing to change ANYTHING about your life so that ruts of predictability are not your norm. To do everything the same every day is to live a life in the past, grow stagnant and become a petrified version of a human. Stay young by staying open to change, flexible and curious. Life is a blast if you let it be. Go create one that captures your imagination and ignites celebration.
Keywords: purple frog, blue heart, red fish