Week 2 of The Skinny Secrets Challenge – Reducing Sugar
Hi Gorgeous,
Have you been following along with the challenge to clean up your diet and experience weight loss and lots of energy? If not it’s never too late to start!
Last week I asked you to start adding more vegetables to your diet to bring in added nutrients which often helps with cravings. I hope you have been able to do this, even if you have just made a tiny change it’s still a step in the right direction!
This week we are going to get a little tougher and start replacing processed white sugar with healthier alternatives. Now I can hear some of you kicking and screaming, this is the toughest part but we have to do it! It doesn’t mean you can never eat sugar again, it just means we need to start distancing ourselves from it so we can form better eating habits.
You can eat as much as you want of anything else at this stage. Whatever helps you get off the crack! Now I know a lot of health coaches or nutritionists would not agree with my tactic but if you are a total sugar addict and this just seems like to big of a stretch than you can still eat junk food at this stage. Just not sugar!
Want to know the payoff for reducing your sugar intake?
- More energy!
- Weight-loss
- Clearer skin
- Less Headaches
- Less mood swings
- and improved health in every area.
Sugar is one of the worst things we can put in our body and disease loves sugar just as much as you do! It feeds off the stuff!
When I fist gave up sugar I was consuming a huge amount. Every day I would have sugary cereal, then my morning snack was a cake, muffin or pastry, then a coke with lunch, followed by a chocolate bar (oh ok more like half a family size chocolate block), then more cake or donuts (hey don’t judge me I was quiet the baker! My workmates had a love/hate relationship with me!). Dinner was always followed by something sweet. I also ate McDonalds regularly - in fact I could probably tell you where every McDonalds is in Sydney!
Boy have I changed! People that know me now wouldn’t believe I ate like that and people that knew me then, still don’t believe I have given it up!
I know a lost of you look at me and think – oh she is naturally skinny, it’s easy for her, but I want you to know, it was just as hard for me to stop eating junk food as it may be for you. I may have looked skinny but back then I was “Skinny Fat”, I had high cholesterol and my blood sugar levels were crazy. I remember once having an awful hypoglycemic attack in Central Station, New York City. I was all alone and thought I was going to die. My blood sugar level had dropped so low from eating so much sugar that I was seeing black spots, I was incredibly light headed, had a racing heart and was violently shaking and sweating! I was so scared I would pass out all alone in a strange place! I knew than that I had to stop eating like that (mind you I didn’t make any changes at that point!)
I was constantly sick and tired so whether I was skinny or not, was irrelevant. I was causing my body damage.
So if you are like the old me do whatever it takes to give up. It was such a big deal for me to stop eating sugar that I regularly ate potato chips and fries instead. This is what I mean by other health coaches not agreeing with me, but I am just being real and letting you know what worked for me. I found if I could tell myself I was allowed fries or another “bad food” that didn’t contain sugar than I found it easier to stay away from sugar. If you do try this tactic you are only allowed to do it for those first few weeks. In a few weeks we will be saying goodbye to all junk food (except for cheat meals)
I am sure you knew this was coming – This week I want you to say no to the obvious sugars
No cakes, biscuits, muffins, pastries, chocolate, cookies, lollies or soft drink.
You can eat hidden sugars at this stage but nothing of the above.
If you can not possibly do this try baking cakes and cookies without sugar and replacing with stevia, honey or coconut sugar. If you check out my recipe section you will find lots of sugar-free sweet recipes. I even make my own chocolate using coconut oil, stevia, and cacao!
If you are still not convinced you can do it or you get caught out by the work “morning tea charity” then look for the lesser of two evils or have a very small amount. For instance a scone has far less sugar that a muffin or cake. If you really want a morning tea treat go for a scone (or better yet make your own and add in some fruit and cinnamon for sweetness).
Replace the processed sugar with
- Cinnamon
- Stevia
- Coconut Sugar
- Coconut nectar
- Fruit
- Date paste (for cooking – just blend pitted dates)
Keep eating lots of vegetables and if you haven’t already add in a green smoothie, it will really help with the cravings!
Don’t forget if you want to go deeper with the challenge and really kick your bad eating habits and tackle some of the road blocks that may be holding you back, don’t forget to get a copy of my ebook, The Skinny Secrets HERE
Good luck and let me know how you go. Leave a comment and let me know how you went adding more veggies into your diet!
Lyn xx
Success and the Bathroom Floor
Hello my friend,
This week I wrote through tears a really vulnerable piece for the social networking site Her Future and it just got picked as one of the “Blogs we Dig”.
I wasn’t planning on posting it here because I was too afraid to share such vulnerability but I decided to in case any one else relates and it’s important to me to always be real and honest with you. No smokes and mirrors, just the truth about my life!
So here goes…….
Success and the Bathroom Floor
Sometimes you feel so low that nothing else can express it like the bathroom floor. Doesn’t everyone at some point have their “eat pray love” moment of crying on the bathroom floor?
When it feels like there is nowhere to go but the bathroom tiles curled up next to the toilet. You can’t get much lower than lying naked next to the toilet.
But sometimes this is where you need to be.
Life positions us exactly where we need to be, even if it is next to the toilet. It symbolizes surrender.
Because when you are that low you can only cry out to God, whether you believe in a God or not, you cry out for hope, for help, or for something different.
An hour earlier I was reading emails from friends telling me how proud they were of me, how great it was to see how successful I was and how exciting things were for me. They even admitted they were a little envious.
And that confused me.
Because here I was on the bathroom floor feeling like a failure. Feeling so petrified and alone and not having a clue how I would come up with money to eat next week, having already given notice on my apartment for not being able to pay the rent.
So cheers to my success, cheers to me going after my dreams and cheers to me lying on the bathroom floor.
Somewhere along the lines things got muddled. Somehow success meant having so many folllowers on facebook or launching an ebook or having a blog post come out regularly.
This was success to so many people who peaked inside my world from a social media perspective.
Few actually made the time to see if I really was ok. Few could be bothered having a real friendship with me outside of facebook.
“wow it’s so exciting you have an ebook”
But embarrassingly it’s hardly been selling.
“You’re doing so well on your blog”
But I don’t have money to pay my rent
“It’s so inspiring that you are going after your dreams”
I can’t get a day job even if I wanted one!
So while my friends ravel in my success I just laid their on the bathroom floor and I guess I got up at some point, because after all I have a blog to write and people to inspire but sometimes it’s not what it seems.
Sometimes success isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and sometimes you can just have a whole lot of followers and not much more.
So before you get caught up in idolizing someone, or being envious of their success. Take a look under their hood. Check that they really are doing ok.
This is my story and I know it is part of the story, I don’t want to be like so many online peeps who are all smokes and mirrors. This is my authentic story, I am the journey and I know true success will come to me soon. I know my friends just see that potential in me, but I want to be real and tell you sometimes you may just find me on the bathroom floor. .
Week One of The Skinny Secrets Challenge! Lose Weight & Find Energy!
Do you ever feel so overwhelmed with the thought of cleaning up your diet that you just can’t be bothered making any changes because it’s too damn hard?
I am guessing that there are a lot of people that feel this way! Maybe you’ve been following the latest diet craze and it tells you to give up pretty much everything you normally eat and you just can’t for the life of you cope with the thought of that! I mean what would you eat??
A sure fire way to fail at a healthy eating plan is to cut out everything at once. That’s what a diet is all about and we all know diet’s don’t work!!
It took many years of bad habits to get to where you are so we need to replace these habits one at a time, and it’s not going to be easy but it can be done!
So who is in? Who would like to slowly start making changes to their diet so that they feel energized every day? Have glowing skin and start shedding a few kilos?
In alignment with the launch of my ebook, The Skinny Secrets I am starting an 8 week Skinny Secrets Challenge and would love for you to join!! This isn’t just about getting skinny, the skinny part will just be and added bonus. The main intention of this challenge is to improve your health and each week I will give you a new challenge to implement in your life to slowly start replacing those bad habits.
Our first week challenge is simple so don’t freak out. You may actually find you’re eating more.
WEEK ONE CHALLENGE – ADD MORE VEGETABLES
Learning to Trust the Process
I have always been a big believer that you are exactly where you need to be right now, that no matter what your circumstance is there is a bigger picture and it will one day make sense.
I say this to friends all the time… One day we will look back and it will all make sense to us and we will sit and laugh at how anxious we were about it.
But when you are in the middle of it, when you can’t see a solution and you’re hustling your butt off to make something work or get ahead, it doesn’t feel like it. You get totally stuck in the feeling of overwhelm and doom and gloom.
The past few months I have been stuck in the overwhelm and the impossible and I am faced with the truth that my worst case scenario is about to come true. So much of me wants to give up or throw a tantrum and I know I have to keep trying, but that deflated feeling is so easy to give into.
So what do you do when you feel this way? Continue reading
Win One of 10 copies of The Skinny Secrets!!
Hey Beautiful!
Have you downloaded your free sneak peek into The Skinny Secrets? This is a book I think every woman should read because it will finally put a stop to dieting and emotional eating! You will learn all the REAL secrets in getting long lasting results by releasing the roadblocks that stop you succeeding!
The Skinny Secrets includes:
Setting an intention that is far greater than your cravings and addictions
Releasing emotional pain that may be getting in the way of your goal weight
Emotional Freedom Technique to overcome the hurdles!
Manifesting
Meditation
Falling in love with food
Clean Eating
Alkaline Acid pH balance
Cut the crap 6 week detox
Meal Examples
Skinny Snacks
HIIT Workout
Clean Eating Shopping List
and more!!
You can grab your copy for $15 HERE :
$5 from every sale goes to a charity called Helping Humanity which supplies nutritional supplements to kids in Africa!
I am giving away 10 copies of The Skinny Secrets. Just leave a comment below telling me what your intention is for losing weight or eating healthy! I will announce the winners on Sunday night! (Australian time)
Lyn xx
7 Ways to Power Through a Tough Workout – Guest blog by Eli King
‘A Workout without the Work is just an Easy Out’
How then do you keep going when your mind is telling you to give in?
Unfortunately there isn’t an easy answer to this one. It takes practice. You need to get used to being uncomfortable and learn to push through your barriers.
Here are my top tips for pushing through when you want to give up!
1. Build up slowly. Each time you workout try and push a little bit harder than you did the last time. Always try and be better than you were before. Even if that means just knocking 1 second off your run or managing one extra rep. Progress is Progress – forget about perfect.
2. Find a Mantra and repeat it to yourself throughout the workout. ‘I can and I will’ or ‘This is easy, and I can do it’ or ‘No Pain No gain’
3. Make it a Game. Try to beat the clock, push out an extra rep or smash your Personal Best. Set yourself some benchmarks and enjoy the competition even if it is only with yourself.
4. Distract Yourself. If you are working with a friend have a chat, sing a song, listen to an interesting podcast, take in the scenery on your run. Think about something else. Your mind will always give in before your body. Distract it so that you can push the boundaries.
5. Stop any Negative Self-Talk. Talk to yourself like you would if you were encouraging your best friend. Your internal dialogue should build you up, and make you feel awesome and unstoppable. Yes, this takes some practice. Start trying to catch your negative thoughts and turn them into a positive. ‘I can’t do this’ becomes ‘This is difficult but I’m going to try my hardest’. ‘I’m fat’ becomes ‘I love my body, and I’m working to make it fitter and stronger’. ‘This hurts, I’m going to quit’ becomes ‘this pain is nothing compared to the pain of failure. I’m not a quitter – I’m AWESOME and I deserve to achieve my dreams!’ Continue reading
The Skinny Secrets is Finally Here!
Hey Beautiful,
Have you ever felt like the universe was sitting on you? This is how I have felt the past few weeks when life has thrown me a fair few curve balls! It’s funny how life works. Just when you feel like you are moving forward in life you may get a set back that makes you want to throw in the towel.
When I wrote my first e-book I never though it was be such an endevour to get it out to you. I wrote this book in just a few weeks because it was a message I was so passionate about sharing. My intention with this book was to help as many women as I could to realise that the secrets to weight loss and good health lies in their mindset. My book not only outlines good eating habits but gives people solutions to overcoming the battle in their mind. If you can get your thoughts right, and actually start enjoying your life and being kind to yourself, your weight will naturally fall to where it needs to be.
Unfortunately I have had a series of roadblocks with this project. A friend was working on the design in the early stages but she had to pull out due to her workload. I was totally fine with that because she was a good friend who bite off more than she could chew and I understood her reasons. A guy I use to work with told me he’d step in and finish the project as he really wanted to help me out. I won’t go in to too much details of what happened with him, but let’s just say I was completely screwed over and taken advantage of! I was left with no product and a very icky situation.
5 months had past since I had written it and almost of all me wanted to give up. Not just with the book but with my new career direction. I have been trying so desperately hard to start a new business and walk away from the corporate world but all I have had is set backs in every way! I mean serious crazy s*** has been happening.
The universe has stripped me bare and I had to decide if I want to keep going, do I keep fighting for my goals or do I put my tail between my legs and go back to a “real job” and listen to everyone say “I told you so”.
Though the later option is still very tempting I decided to pick myself up, stop feeling sorry for myself and just make it work. Every succesful entrepreneur I know has hit rock bottom. That is where the magic happens.
I decided that the most important part of my book is the content. The design didn’t matter, it was my intention and words that matter and the hope that I could help even just one person. Continue reading
Try My Protein Brownies!
Protein, Protein, Protein!! This is what my diet looks like at the moment as I try to gain muscle for a photo shoot I plan in a few months for my new website and online fitness products.
Now don’t worry I am not going all “body builder” on you. My slim build would struggle to get that big!
I realise plenty of women are scared of building muscle because they think they will look like the hulk but it’s actually very hard for women to build muscle so unless you are training like a dude and putting in a few hours every day at the gym, you have nothing to worry about.
In fact more muscle tone will help you burn more calories!
A protein rich diet will ensure you body has all the essential amino acids to repair and restore your body so it is essential that you are getting enough protein in your diet.
People always say protein keeps you full longer but to be honest I don’t agree with that, but it will sustain your energy and blood sugar levels if you include protein not only with every meal, but with every snack.
Try out my protein brownies. You can make these without the protein powder, just add in more almond meal. They are great sugar free treat!
- 2 small ripe Bananas
- 3 Tbsp Flaxseed meal
- 3 Tbsp Almond meal
- 3 Tbsp Chia Seeds
- 3 tablespoons of Stevia
- 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 2 servings protein powder ( I use organic pea-isolate protein – no additives. Stay away from anything with more than 2 ingredients!)
- 3 Tbsp of organic raw cacao (or unsweetened cocoa)
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- Splash of rice/almond milk
You may like to add in some honey or coconut sugar to make it a little sweeter. I always taste test along the way and add in extra ingredients This recipe is just a base so you can add in what you like. If you don’t like banana you could also try this with apple sauce (or apple baby food!)
Enjoy 
Lyn xx
How To Come Off The Pill Without Getting Acne!
If you have been suffering breakouts after coming off the pill and turn to the internet for help you will soon feel really really crap. I have done this many times, trying desperately hard to find answers to how to successfully come off the pill without getting acne. Negativity is usually louder than postitivity when it comes to the internet so it was really hard to find any information that put me at ease.
I have been on the contraceptive pill since I was 17 years old for the treatment for acne. It did a great job at clearing my skin but the pill is not exactly the best thing for your body. I tried several times to have a break from it and the result had me too scared to look in the mirror.
The first time I came off the pill within about 6 weeks I had very severe acne, worse than when I was a teenager. At the time I was working as a beauty coordinator for a celebrity magazine and I regularly attended beauty events alongside the ”beautiful people”. It was not cool to have acne when you work in the beauty industry! However the best thing about working in the beauty department of a magazine is that we could “call out” for any product we liked so we called in every acne treatment imaginable.
Nothing worked.
After a few months my self esteem was so low and I would get teary just looking at myself in the mirror. The acne was really painful, so I went back on the pill.
I tried to go off it again a few years later and at first I thought I was in the clear. Two months had past and I only had a few spots, but then after about 4 months it got really bad. My hormones were going crazy and I just couldn’t face it anymore. I was in my 30′s and having to deal with teenage skin. It was riculous! I caved in and went back on the pill and was back to having great skin.
Last year I read an article on The Wellness Warrior blog about how bad the pill is for us, especially when you have been on it for so many years. I have been wanting to come off it for some time but it just never seems like the right time until a month ago when I thought screw this I have to try it, I want this drug out of my system and I want to allow my body to have a normal natural cycle! Continue reading
How I Flew Out of Depression
Sometimes life can get so dark and uncomfortable that it takes your breath away. For those moments you may feel lost and unsupported and alone but in the darkness you find a light much brighter than the one you carried before.
In my darkest moments there was not a glimmer of light near. In my darkest moments I was held to the floor in pain and in my darkest moment I would wish away my life.
There were too many moments like this to write about but as I write this today it feels like a lifetime ago. When you’re in the darkness you can’t imagine a life outside of the pain but when you’re out, the light is quick to wash over the pain. Although it’s a distant memory it still motivates me to share my story in hope that one person reading this can know that there is a life outside of their pain.
I was just flicking through some photos when I was pulled back to a time where I felt like this.
A few years ago I was feeling so completely torn down by life that I didn’t want to get back up. I shut myself away from the world and hoped that no one would miss me. I felt like there was nothing for me, my career was a shamble and I spent my days in a toxic bullying workplace, my heart was broken and I felt like the world had moved on without me. I felt completely paralyzed in a place that I didn’t want to be and I wanted to disappear from the world all together.
I had been in this place many times before and each time it felt deeper, each time my situation felt completely hopeless like I would never pull through and be the person I wanted to be.
This particular time I remember bargaining with God ( because what else is there to do when you feel so bad!) and said that if something drastic didn’t happen this week to bring me out of this feeling I would end things. I don’t know if I meant it or if I was just being dramatic but that week something shifted.
Completely out of the blue I had the idea to go to Africa. One night when I was feeling really down I was mindlessly surfing the internet when I decide to look up volunteer work. I had once written down on my bucket list that I wanted to volunteer in an orphanage so I started researching. The moment I began to view different organisations I felt an overwhelming feeling of excitement, love and joy, something that was so far from the feeling of hopelessness that I had felt earlier.
Over the week it wouldn’t leave my thoughts and I asked my Mum what she thought of the idea. I was in that state of being so depressed that I couldn’t make the most basic decision let alone decide on a trip to Africa. My Mum thought it was a great idea and told me to do it. I was actually supposed to go to the US for a wedding and had holidays booked for that, but my desire to go to Africa was so much bigger than me. Three weeks later I was boarding a plane to Kenya. Continue reading
