EP97 Mindset Monday - Sweet Free September

This is episode 97 of the Empowered Athlete podcast. Hey there. Happy Monday and thank you for joining us. Now, before we dive in with Kari, I have a question for you. Do you know someone who has been serving throughout the pandemic on the front lines? Because it's their job and it's what they love to do, to help others, to help the community, but perhaps they've been doing that for months under incredible stress and pressure because of this pandemic. They've not taken care of themselves in some way. Well, it's time to shift the focus and press the reset button. In the show notes is a link to our incredible program that's coming in September. I can't do it justice here, but check it out. Check out the video that Kari's made to learn about this incredible life changing program. For someone that you know or love or yourself, it is time to get it to the next level. This is the Empowered Athlete podcast Mindset Monday. 10 minutes with Kari Schneider to learn new mindset tactics and tricks to optimize your performance in sport, business and life.

Mindset Monday. Today we are going to talk about sugar. Sweet Free September is coming up. So we've been spreading the word a little bit to our empowered team, our coaching group, and in doing so, I think there's some apprehension that's built because people don't really know if they want to give up sugar, especially if it's something that you've never done before, if you've never given up sweets for any length of time, it can be a super scary thing and especially because it can be part of a solid habit. So the question we're asking today, is this for the body or is this for the mind? And really the third question can be, is it for both? Because we're not doing Sweet Free September for the body necessarily. We're doing it for the habits in the mind. We're getting. Instead of having this 2 by 3 inch muscle in between my jaw here and between my teeth, instead of having that control and everything in my eating habits, I'm going to have my mind control it. And that's what's going to be given. The control again is right back to the mind. So instead of having the tongue controlling everything, having a party in your mouth, having the habits lured by the cravings and the sweet hankerings and all of those things, instead, it's going to be the mind. So what does that look like for you? Are you someone who craves sweets? Are you someone who craves salt? Are you craving fat? Whatever it is typically what the newest research is showing us is that this is a craving, especially if it's one that's very consistent and comes up for you all of the time. It's typically a craving that's coming from the bacteria that's deep inside your gut. When that's the case, then we've got this situation where it really needs a reset, maybe with different bacteria, maybe with cutting off that particular craving. Any of those things can really help reset that craving. So it's not dominating you. A lot of us grew up. I grew up with my grandma and grandpa saying that we had a sweet tooth in our family. And oh, so true. Did we have a sweet tooth in my family. I always knew where my grandparents stayed, stashed the little chocolate bars or the candy or whatever in the house, and I could find it. And I always wanted that sugar. So that's always been a thing for me is wanting that sugar. But what happens at this time of year, especially over the summer, when there's been ice cream or there's been special summer treats or just different things that I really, really love, then we hit September. And if I don't get that sweet craving under control, then it's going to mean that Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, all of the festivities come hitting really hard. And I don't want that craving to be completely out of control. So we call this Sweet Free September is literally to free. To free your choice, to free the control of you controlling it instead of your taste buds or your cravings or the certain bacteria in your gut deciding what you're going to eat. So Sweet Free September is not about deprivation. It's all about gaining the control back. Sweet Free September is not about trying to force your body into something different. It's all about your health and your mindset, your higher self taking control and you choosing instead of you feeling like you're being controlled by cravings. So it's really to break the chain of cravings to have you have the choice so that by the time September ends, you feel solid in the choices that you make around sweets. So if this is something that you want to do with us, then pop a direct message to me and I'll make sure you get the information so you know exactly what we're doing. It's really simple. Even if you are doing this on your own and, and you've done something like this before, we're not taking it to the extremes. It's just no sugar, no added sugar. Really, really simple. But what I find, especially if it's Something you've never done before is that it's so much easier to do when you do it with other people. It's been the best when Paul and I do it together. It's even more amazing when we know other people are doing it and that they are looking to us for motivation. It's even better when our daughter, Maeve, she's done it with us before, even too. So when you have this group and this accountability and community, then it's so much easier because you know you're not alone. And then you're not having as many of those conversations in your head, like, oh, I can't have this, or I can't do this. Instead, it's more of a preparation. Okay, we're all doing this together. And I know that I normally have switched sweets at this time. So what is my replacement? And this is the third main thing. When I'm talking about not having deprivation and I'm talking about regaining mindset control, the third main thing is preparation. You know, we have what's called this domino effect, typically, and it's with behavior in our everyday life. And the domino effect happens because our brain likes to go in certain patterns and often lead loops. And so when our brain does one thing, then we know that the next thing and the next thing and the next thing come in sequence. And that's what happens with the domino effect. So, for instance, if you're a person like me, you've made a good dinner, you've had a good day, you know you're satisfied, you know you're full, you've eaten dinner. However, you still have this hankering for something sweet, because that domino effect of prep the dinner, eat the dinner, finish the dinner, feeling great, want that little sweet, and then maybe want something sweet again later on. There's this domino effect of patterning and habits. So the biggest thing about this, especially for the mindset, is about the habit. Now, if this habit happens to be one that is fueling an unhealthy lifestyle or fueling a body composition that you don't like, then, yes, this is going to be about your body as well. But for most people, it's more about the mind in terms of not having their tongue controlling everything, or the party in your mouth controlling everything. Now, keep in mind that it doesn't matter whether it's going for a sport goal, a new goal with your career, or a weight loss goal, it's all going to start here. That's why we consistently do Mindset Monday so that you have the kind of secret Weapon for anything you're looking to do. It all starts here. So that domino effect is the last thing that really is affected where you're choosing what domino is going to affect the next one. So instead now through Sweet Free September, you pick something different. If you know that the meal at dinner is the thing that triggers your sweet sweets, or if you know a stressful work environment is the thing that triggers your sweet snacking in the afternoon, or if you know that time right before bed is that time you have a hankering for something sweet, then you change the pattern to something else. You change it to having something ready to go. For me it's going to be specifically I need steel cut oats with some frozen fruit. And that is going to be my go to. I will need potentially a lot of extra nuts because I'll have that to snack on instead of chocolate. So I'll have these other things available to me so that when the domino effect happens and whatever the trigger is for me to want something sweet, then I will have something on hand to replace it with and make sure that that's right and ready to go. That's a healthy replacement Whole foods, something that I really love. So that's what Sweet Free September number is going to be all about. If you want to do it great. We would love to have you do it with us. Pop me a direct message. I'll make sure you get the information. Just a page layout. And if you also want as well the I will also be doing a juice cleanse in on the fall solstice in September. So if that's something that you want as well, then pop a direct message to us so that you can get that info information as as well. So that is your mindset Monday today. I hope that serves you. Remember this is not about deprivation. It is all about powerful. Taking your power back and eliminating the cravings. That's what it's about deciding when you get that trigger what you want instead. Making sure that it's serving your best life, your most vital life and your greatest energy. Because we know that two much sugar makes you feel like you got energy for a moment but then has you crash and burn shortly after. So we want your best vital energy, want you feeling your best. I want you fueled your best as well. So that is your mindset Monday. Here's the question for you. Have you ever done this before? Have you ever given up sugar for 30 days? If you have pop in the chat, what was the hardest thing? What was the easiest thing? If you haven't popped pop in the chat, would you ever do it? And if you're going to do it with us, let us know right away because we're getting ready this week. Have a great day, guys. Have a fantastic rest of your week. Happy, happy Monday.