

CONSISTENT by Primal Potential
Elizabeth Benton
Why are we so stressed & overwhelmed? Why do we have clear & compelling goals but fail to reach them? How can we want to change so desperately yet make choices that keep us from that change? Because we keep focusing on the habits we want instead of building the skill of consistency that allows us to achieve them. Consistency is a skill. It's a superpower. It isn't one-size-fits all. It unlocks any door and makes every goal achievable. A more effective, realistic approach starts here.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 19, 2016 • 11min
180: Every Choice Is A Chance
Guys: Every choice is a chance. You aren't stuck. You can't be stuck. Stop telling yourself that you're stuck or that you aren't motivated. Every single moment is a new chance, a new opportunity and a blank slate. In today's motivational minisode, I'm providing you with an attitude adjustment and a powerful perspective shift. Stop focusing on everything you've done "wrong" and on all the chances you've missed. Who cares? It's done. This next choice right in front of you is your next chance. Let's snap ourselves out of the powerless funk and start getting results by taking control of each choice as it arises. http://primalpotential.com/180-every-choice-is-a-chance/

May 17, 2016 • 34min
179: 3 Fat Loss Hormones
If you've listened to much of the Primal Potential podcast, you understand that fat loss is very much about hormones. There are 3 hormones in particular that we can consider "the fat loss hormones". If we understand how they work and what specific choices we can make to make sure these fat loss hormones are working our favor, we're well on our way to our best health & the achievement of our goals. We'll be talking a lot more about hormones in the next few weeks but for today I want to begin with an overview of these 3 powerhouse fat loss hormones: cortisol, leptin & insulin. http://primalpotential.com/179-fat-loss-hormones/ Fat Loss Hormones Leptin - leptin is a hormone produced by your fat cells that acts as a messenger between your body fat and your brain. When working properly, leptin works with your brain to regulate your appetite. As your body fat increases, leptin production increases and tells your body to increase metabolism and decrease appetite. As body fat decreases, leptin secretion decreases so the brain triggers an increase in appetite and decrease in metabolism. Unfortunately, leptin can quickly become disregulated with both crash dieting and weight gain, causing leptin resistance and impairing the brain's ability to receive signals from leptin. Cortisol - cortisol is a stress hormone released by the adrenal glands in response to physical, emotional or mental stress. Cortisol's job is to prepare your body for the fight-or-flight emergency response. One of the ways it prepares your body is by making sure there is plenty of sugar (glucose) in your blood stream so you're able to escape from the threat. Unfortunately, in this day & age, the threat is often a traffic jam, losing your keys or a fight with your spouse and no escape is necessary. Sure, you might see that as a good thing, but it means you're left with unneeded sugar in your blood stream that has to be stored. Many people get frustrated with lack of fat loss results despite eating clean & managing blood sugar. They tend to overlook the stress effect. Cortisol will break down muscle glycogen or muscle tissue to provide sugar for the blood, regardless of your diet. Because of this, stress management is a critical part of fat loss. Insulin - I'll join the ranks of those who refer to insulin as the master fat loss hormone. It's critically important. You can listen to an episode all about insulin here. The point of today's episode is to show you that caring for your carb strategy isn't enough if you want to achieve your health & fat loss potential. You can mess with insulin if you aren't caring for cortisol, which is where most people pay little to no attention. Insulin is secreted by the pancreas in response to elevated blood sugar. Insulin's job is to usher the blood sugar out of the blood to either provide immediate fuel for cells or to be stored for later use. The presence of insulin puts the body in storage mode. Because cortisol can increase blood sugar independent of diet, managing insulin is about both diet & lifestyle. Definitely listen to the full episode for a conversation about what we can do, from a diet & lifestyle perspective, to help these hormones work in our favor! There's a lot we can do!

May 14, 2016 • 30min
178: Success Triple Threat
Success in any endeavor, as Tony Robbins says, is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics. Unfortunately, most of us spend the majority of our focus on the mechanics and very little on mindset. In today's episode I want to introduce you to the triple threat of success: right strategy, right mindset and right effort. I know, that begs the question: what in the world is the right strategy? There's so much conflicting information out there! We're going to get into how you can identify YOUR right strategy - not mine, not anyone else's, just yours. http://primalpotential.com/178-triple-threat-right-strategy-right-mindset-right-effort/ The Triple Threat of Weight Loss Success Right strategy - how to listen to your body, increase energy and decrease hunger. How to balance your hormones, support your metabolism, burn more fat and know when you're giving YOUR body what it needs. Right attitude - you can't create a positive life with a negative attitude. Let's reframe your attitude with this triple threat approach to weight loss success! Right effort - how to get consistent, do the work and bring your focus & energy to each day, whether you're "in the mood" or not!

May 12, 2016 • 28min
177: 5 Ways To Crush Your Goals While Traveling
Let's talk travel and weight loss today, okay? It's a busy season of travel for me and on today's show I want to share with you some of my most effective strategies for traveling without disregarding my goals. In fact, these travel strategies help me make progress towards my goals no matter where I am! If you have travel coming up and you're feeling anxious about it, I totally understand and I hope you'll listen to this episode in full! http://primalpotential.com/177-travel-and-weight-loss/ Travel and Weight Loss In today's episode I'm diving deep into several strategies that will help you transform your experience of travel and boost your confidence that you can lose weight no matter where you are or what is going on around you. CREATE STRUCTURE Yes, there's a lot you can't control when you're on the road and away from your normal surroundings. However, that doesn't mean you need to surrender all your control. What elements of your normal routine can you maintain? Personally, I maintain my morning routine whenever I can. I get up early, I work for a few hours, workout and have a fat loss friendly breakfast. This helps me begin the day feeling energized, positive, focused and productive. Maybe it's important for you to maintain your bedtime, or to ensure you always drink enough water or get in a leisure walk. Either way, look for ways to create structure regardless of where you are and what is going on. REFRAME INDULGENCES To me, indulgences were always things like cookies, ice cream, cupcakes and alcohol. But, I want to challenge you to think about what it means to indulge. I think it means to have something special that represents a rare treat. With that definition, it doesn't have to be something misaligned with my goals. An indulgence can be something that is special & rare but doesn't have to be something that makes you feel full, heavy, or guilty afterwards. I seek out indulgences that feel really special but make me feel amazing both while I eat it and after. On this particular trip, those were things like octopus carpaccio, snapper ceviche and table side guacamole. THINK ABOUT VOLUME Food does not taste better the more of it you eat. In fact, it's kind of the opposite. The first few bites are always the best, and we pay less attention as we continue to eat. For that reason, more isn't better. More is usually less satisfying. Pay attention as you eat. Are you savoring every bite or are you just going through the motions. Is the current bite as good as the first? If not, let it go. Move on. NO EXCUSES NECESSARY Sure, there are lots of excuses you could make when you're traveling, but you don't have to make them or accept them. You don't have a kitchen. You don't have your normal gym. Your preferred food choices aren't available. Great. Who cares? What CAN you do? What is within your power? What will you do?

May 10, 2016 • 36min
176: 3 Strategies To Avoid Self-Sabotage
I just returned from speaking on Jimmy Moore's Low Carb Cruise about overcoming emotional eating & self-limiting beliefs. I shared with his audience that all the strategies in the world won't help if you don't get out of your own way & do the work consistently. Though I think strategy matters, most people fail to implement because of their mindset & beliefs, not because of the nuts & bolts of "how" to lose weight. In today's podcast, I'm going to share with you the presentation I gave on the Low Carb Cruise about strategies to help you avoid self-sabotage & accelerate progress towards your goals. http://primalpotential.com/176-avoid-self-sabotage 3 Strategies To Avoid Self-Sabotage There are 3 primary barriers to progress that I talk about in today's episode: self-doubt stress & worry fear (fear of missing out, fear of failure, fear of success) To overcome these barriers and avoid self-sabotage, you need to make sure to: Avoid self-limiting beliefs Don't let your motivation escape by focusing on the past or the future Show up for practice I share specific mantras, perspectives and mindset shifts to help you implement these strategies and stay out of your own way! Don't miss the full episode!

May 7, 2016 • 33min
175: Rebound Weight Gain, Rapid Weight Loss & The Biggest Loser
In today's episode we're breaking down some recent research about rebound weight gain & the impact of rapid weight loss on hormones & metabolism, courtesy of the popular television show, The Biggest Loser. This article has spread like wildfire, summarizing a study that followed 14 former Biggest Loser contestants over 6 years, documenting their weight gain & metabolic/hormonal challenges. Many people read this article and panicked, which is why I'm doing this episode. They feel like the article suggests that weight loss is hopeless and your body will fight back to get to it's original weight. They feel like the article suggests you can't lose weight without wrecking your metabolism. That's just not true. Take a listen to the full episode to get the facts without the media hype! http://primalpotential.com/biggest-loser/

May 5, 2016 • 37min
174: Hacking Hunger
Let's talk hunger, shall we? It's one of those things that for some unknown reason, we kinda fear. Not anymore. Not after today. Today is all about hacking hunger and improving your response to hunger to increase your peace of mind and accelerate your results. Have you ever felt like you need to keep snacks around "just in case" you get hungry? Have you ever told yourself that you can't get too hungry or you'll go off the rails? I know I have! In today's episode we're talking about improving our response to hunger so we can understand it & embrace it without panicking or reactive decision making. http://primalpotential.com/174-hacking-hunger-5-ways-to-improve-your-response/

May 3, 2016 • 13min
173: Take It To The Next Level
Today I've got another motivational minisode for you! It's time to take it to the next level. We need to get out of our way, we need to stop making excuses, stop looking for exceptions, stop focusing on all the mistakes and missed opportunities in the past. What would happen if you brought your level 10 effort to each day for the next 30 days? Where would be? What would you achieve? How much momentum would you create? It's a great thought, right? So do it. Start now. There's no need for more waiting or wishing. Need a kick in the pants? Listen to today's episode! http://primalpotential.com/173-take-it-to-the-next-level/

Apr 30, 2016 • 25min
172: What People Aren't Saying About Weight Loss
The vast majority of conversations about weight loss are about diet & exercise. I get it. Makes sense. But here's the problem: the real problem, for most people, isn't about food. It's not. I know, I didn't believe it either, for most of my life. Doesn't make it not true. In today's episode I'm explaining that most people overeat, binge or lack moderation & self-control because of some other issue not related to food. Overeating & weight gain are merely symptoms of a different problem. We keep eating because the food doesn't meet the true need we have. Please, don't miss today's episode. http://primalpotential.com/172-people-arent-saying-weight-loss

Apr 28, 2016 • 24min
171: Non Scale Victories You Should Measure
When trying to lose weight, most people focus on just that – weight. The number on the scale. Not only do I think tends to backfire for most people, it's also an accurate representation of what we're really after (fat loss) and it often prevents us from focusing on all the other wins – non scale victories we have every day and typically overlook. In today's episode I'll certainly share my thoughts on effective and ineffective ways to measure fat loss and overall progress, but I want to focus on non scale victories. We'll talk about which, if any, you should begin to measure (and how) as well as the tremendous benefit they have in your journey. Here's my 10,000 ft view of non-scale victories: they are one of the most powerful ways to overcome all-or-nothing thinking. You definitely want to listen to this episode if you struggle with the scale or with all-or-nothing thinking about weight loss. http://primalpotential.com/171-non-scale-victories-you-should-measure/ Non Scale Victories You Should Measure When we fall into the trap of all-or-nothing thinking, we fixate on something that we aren't proud of, a choice that was less than perfect, and, due to our imperfection, we count the day as wasted. Next thing we know, one average choice has triggered 10 awful choices. At the root of all-or-nothing thinking is a focus on what wasn't perfect or ideal. This is the absolute opposite of non scale victories. When we practice monitoring & celebrating non scale victories, we're focusing on what is going right. We're looking for progress beyond the scale and we're focusing on the improvements in mindset, moderation, health, energy, fitness and anything in between. Naturally, we focus less on what wasn't right and more on what was right. Plus, we begin to prove to ourselves that progress doesn't require perfect and we clearly see that all-or-nothing thinking is counter productive. There are all kinds of non-scale victories. In today's episode I'm talking about many different categories of non-scale victories and how you can measure them. Health (blood sugar, hemoglobin A1C, cholesterol, triglycerides, migraines, etc) Hormonal biofeedback (sleep, energy, cravings, hunger, mood, menstrual cycle regularity) Fitness (strength, endurance, consistency, speed) Mindset (attitude, negativity, perspective, motivation, consistency, grace, patience) Choices (frequency of binges, bouncing back more quickly) You don't want to miss this full episode to hear about how, why & how often you should evaluate these non-scale victories and what the focus will do for your results & your motivation.


