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Food for Thought Friday: I gasped when I looked in the mirror and saw this
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On Tuesday, March 15 as I was getting dressed, I looked in the mirror and could not believe what I saw… OMGGGGG! I had two subtle-but-definitely-there definition lines running down either side of my abdomen.
I especially couldn’t believe my eyes because I was seeing these in the exact week when I had reached what I felt was my low-point-of-the-pandemic workout valley. I hadn’t run in months because my hip has been acting up. The week before included several days when I didn’t even walk around the block. AND I had eaten copious amounts of bagels and bread over the previous weekend, consistent with a general increase-in-carbs-and-sweets that has been happening in recent months… maybe you can relate?!
Despite my surprise at these new, subtle-but-exciting ab lines, I quickly realized exactly why they were suddenly visible… drumroll please…. because it’s been over a full year since the pandemic began, which for me means it’s been a full year that I have been consistently doing a 10-15 minute core workout about 4 days a week!
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(Other than meeting my boyfriend in August) I consider this my biggest achievement of the pandemic: a consistent abs habit that I have actually stuck with for over a year!
The habit, not the ab lines, is the WIN in my book! (The visible definition is a nice side benefit! Admittedly it seems visible on only some days, and only in the mornings haha. I'll take it, though!).
The key to this little transformation is: I’ve been doing this very small thing for a full year, consistently. Consistently, not perfectly. Not even close to perfectly, in fact. Because perfect is an illusion. Consistency is where it’s at!!
Even though we all want a magic, overnight solution to our problems or desires… the truth is that change happens with tiny actions, consistently executed over a long period of time.
Real change is a slog. Most of the time, it’s not very sexy. But if you stick with it, then one day (like my random Tuesday), you wake up and are like OMG LOOK WHERE I AM NOW!!
If you didn’t know this about me already, I’m a huge HABIT NERD! I believe that habits are THE KEY to anything you want to make happen, and I LOVE reading about them and obsessively examining and adjusting my own habits year after year.
If you haven't guessed it yet, the habit I love most of all is COOKING! However you're cooking right now (or not) is a habit, whether you realize it or not. More accurately, cooking is actually a plethora of different habits - there's where, when, and how you shop; how you store food; WHAT you cook; when you decide what to make; how you make it; how you eat it, etc.
The big question with cooking and habits is: which habits are working well for you? And which habits are NOT working well? And … if you want to change one of your habits, how do you do that in a way that will ACTUALLY stick and thus provide benefits for the long haul?
There’s a popular book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. In it he has four laws for creating a good habit:
- Make it Obvious
- Make it Attractive
- Make it Easy
- Make it Satisfying
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In getting my core-workout habit to stick, I did the following:
- Make it Obvious: I set up a small "workout corner" in my apartment and left my yoga mat out permanently so I would see it every day and it would silently entice me :) (^see above!)
- Make it Attractive: My "workout corner" is really pretty - full of plants and sunlight! I started with just 10 or 12 minutes of abs because 15 felt like too much in the beginning. Once I was doing 10 or 12 consistently, I inched it up to 15.
- Make it Easy: *THIS was the KEY for me* - I used the Nike Training Club App, which has 10, 12, and 15 minute (free!) workouts. THIS was the big key to my success, because I needed someone to tell me what to do. In the past when I tried to do abs, I couldn't decide which exercises, I didn't want to count, and I wouldn't push myself on my own. The NTC workouts took care of all that. I simply saved a few workouts, and then each day I'd pick one that I'd pre-selected, press play and BOOM, I was off to the races!
- Make it Satisfying: I'd always listen to some pump up music during my abs, which of course makes it more fun, and I found that doing my 15-minute workout before breakfast made me feel GREAT, a small active accomplishment to start my day, so even if I didn't get a walk or other workout in later, I knew I'd done something that day!
In my opinion, the EASY part is the most key. A habit that sticks has to be SO EASY that you can do it even when your motivation is the lowest of the low.
So... back to cooking... if you're thinking "YES I need an EASIER cooking habit!"... well my formula for THAT EASY MEAL that you can make anytime, on autopilot is exactly what I'll be teaching in my LIVE zoom class next week!
Intuitive Cooking TONIGHT! - happening next Thursday, April 8 around dinner time, wherever you are! (Two different time slots - for my people on all coasts or in between.)
THIS meal formula I'll be teaching allowed me to create super healthy, extremely delicious, EASY meals on autopilot all throughout the pandemic, when my motivation was extremely low. (Photos of some of those meals here when you scroll down.) It's not a recipe, it's a FORMULA, which means you can use it any time, with endless variety. I'm going to show you how to use ingredients you ALREADY have, ALREADY like, and are ALREADY familiar with to come up with new creations in a way that's EASY and super satisfying. Best of all, the more you practice, the easier it will be and the more INTUITIVE and automatic it will become.
With any habit - my 15-min-abs workouts OR my 20-minute-meal-formula, I believe there's tipping point. After doing it so many times, the benefits outweigh the costs of motivation, and it actually becomes easier to DO it because you feel SO MUCH BETTER afterwards!
In the class next week, we will:
- Go on a scavenger hunt in your kitchen
- I'll teach you my formula, which will show you how to group ingredients into categories and then follow the steps to mixing and matching them to make delicious creations every time
- I'll coach you along (with the group) to do exactly this DURING class, so you'll be eating by the time class is complete!
Read more / sign up HERE! (Or if you’re like “YES PLEASE DEFINITELY” then click here to go straight to checkout.) And don't forget that you get $15 off this time around bc you're a beloved email subscriber! Use the code FFTFFAN at checkout and get $15 off.
Here are two more of my favorite ideas from James Clear:
"The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. ...Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become."
Every big, lasting change starts with a tiny habit, and every habit starts with one small step in the right direction - a "vote" for the type of person you want to be today!
For me, the first step to a strong core was downloading the Nike Training Club app on a rec from a friend (Thanks Kelly!); for you, maybe that first small step towards being a more intuitive cooking is signing up for my class next week (it's just $14 bucks with the discount code)! Click here to learn more and see if it's right for you!
And thanks to those who already signed up!! I can't wait to see your smiling faces very soon on my zoom screen!
Sign up here!
Cheers to habits that stick, and happy weekend!
love,
Jess
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
If you like this email, it would mean so much to me if you'd forward it along to your favorite food-loving friends. Wannabe subscribers can sign up here. Thanks for reading!
In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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