

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

Dec 3, 2016 • 36min
265: 29 Tips From Successful People
The other day I was reading an article from an author I love, Ryan Holiday. He shared a powerful collection of 29 tips from successful people. He curated the thoughts & wisdom from a couple dozen individuals with what he calls "strategic minds". As I read it I found myself thinking about how these 29 tips & lessons apply to improving our health, attitude, consistency & motivation. I began to write in my journal about these lessons and their application to my life and then thought, "I need to share these on the podcast!" You can read Holiday's article here but don't miss the podcast where I talk about what we can do TODAY to apply these powerful lessons to our own food, fitness & lifestyle choices. http://primalpotential.com/tips-from-successful-people/ Resources: Join the FREE "Lose Weight For the Last Time" webinar series! We'll be talking consistency, all-or-nothing, attitude, perspective & sustainable strategy! Don't miss it! I'll take your questions and we'll have a blast! Ryan Holiday's full article on 29 lessons from strategic minds For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

Dec 1, 2016 • 29min
264: EB's Top 4 Personal Success Strategies
Today I'm going to share my own personal success strategies. These are the specific strategies that brought me out of a really dark place. I weighed over 350 lbs, I was completely miserable and felt like food had WAY more control over my life than I did. Interestingly, these strategies have nothing to do with food. I'm not talking about strategies like a fat loss breakfast or having my carbs at night. These strategies do, however, drive my food choices. While they aren't directly related to food, they shape how I think about food and how I make decisions when I'm tired, emotional, hungry or tempted. But wait! There's more! If you're listening to this before December 13th 2016, I'm hosting a totally free 2-part webinar series to help you lose weight for the last time - create consistency and put an end to the exhausting "all or nothing" thinking cycle. You can grab your spot here. The webinars are Tuesday and Wednesday December 13th & 14th at 8:30pm ET. They're completely free, they're live and I'll happily take your questions! Come hang out with me! http://primalpotential.com/264-ebs-top-4-personal-success-strategies/

Nov 29, 2016 • 18min
263: How To Stop Giving Up, Giving In & Making Excuses
If I could help you figure out how to stop giving up, giving in and making excuses, I know your whole world would change. Life would be easier, you would be happier and you'd absolutely crush your goals. I have no doubt. Let's do that today. Seriously. Today is your day. This episode is going to outline a specific strategy that will show you just how to stop giving up, how to put your excuses aside and learn how to stop talking yourself into surrender & delay. http://primalpotential.com/263-stop-giving-giving-making-excuses/ Resources: Why Quantity Should Be Your Priority (Medium article) For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

Nov 26, 2016 • 25min
262: Benefits of Bone Broth
What's the deal with bone broth? Is it the latest in a long line of nutrition fads? Are there real benefits of bone broth? How is it different from stock? Is there any difference between buying it online and making it myself? What will bone broth do for me? I'm answering all those questions and more on today's episode of the Primal Potential podcast! Don't miss it! http://primalpotential.com/262-benefits-of-bone-broth-recipes/ Benefits of Bone Broth (And Recipes) What is bone broth? As the name suggests, bone broth is a broth made from the bones of an animal. Much of the bone broth you'll find in a grocery store is from cows but you can also make or buy it from chickens or fish. I prefer mine from chickens. Why is it good for you? In addition to being incredibly rich in vitamins & minerals, bone broth is an exceptional source of collagen. Collagen is a protein found in the connective tissue of animals (and humans) which provides a wide variety of benefits from skin health to joint health & more. It's important to remember that there are different types of collagen and the different types have different roles. Also, the animals I mentioned – cows, chickens & fish – tend to predominantly provide a certain type of collagen. Collagen found in broth from cows' bones is primarily types 1 & 3 which are best for the health & strength of your skin & nails. Collagen found in broth from chickens is rich in type 2 collagen and provides amazing benefits for joints & gut health. Super cool factoid about collagen from fish: it appears to increase our own collagen production! Pretty cool, right? How do you make it? You guys know I'm a pretty simple person. I like simple, no-fuss recipes. I buy the highest quality chicken I can find (this really matters when boiling bones) and I throw the feet & backbone section in a crockpot, submerge it with water, add onions, carrots, salt & apple cider vinegar and let it slow cook for 24 hours. There are absolutely more complex recipes but I'm a simple girl. A word on "high quality chicken" – I buy organic, free range chicken from a local farmers' market where the chickens not treated with hormones or antibiotics. You can also buy bone broth. Please know, however, that much of the commercially produced bone broth contains MSG and I'd recommend you stay away from that. Buy bone broth without MSG or make your own. (For anyone who is local to Winston Salem, North Carolina, definitely check out Caldero Bone Broth. Her chickens are happy, healthy & her bone broth is outstanding. Are there health concerns? Yes. We're boiling bones. This is why I emphasize buying very high quality chicken/beef/fish if you're making your own. Bones, including human bones, naturally contain both minerals & heavy metals. Though you're not eating the bones, many of the nutrients are extracted while they simmer. You want to make sure that you're using bones from grass fed animals who have not been treated with hormones, antibiotics or given feed that has been sprayed with pesticides & herbicides. When in doubt, buy your bone broth. Keep in mind, however, that you can purchase low quality bone broth just like you can make low quality bone broth. The same animal standards apply to products you purchase and you'll want to stay away from MSG. 5 Reasons to Drink Bone Broth It is fantastic for your immune system. I mentioned that bone broth is rich in collagen. One of the amino acids that makes up collagen is known as proline. Proline is essential for tissue repair. When you give your body the tools it needs, like proline, for a strong immune system, you will recover more quickly & completely than if you rob your body of these critical tools. It supports gut health. One of the primary components of gut health is the strength & integrity of the lining of your gut. When we eat diets rich in processed foods, that gut lining begins to break down. The breakdown triggers inflammation, gastrointestinal issues and pain. The collagen within bone broth helps to protect & repair the lining of your gut. It will make you more beautiful. I'm talking primarily about skin & nails here. Of course collagen is a major component of our skin (and the source of many cosmetic procedures). Collagen helps with fine lines, wrinkles & even cellulite. It can increase your own body's production of collagen. When we don't give our body the nutrients it needs, our own production of collagen can slow. This may lead to premature aging, skin wrinkling, joint pain and inflammation. Fish collagen has been shown to increase endogenous production of collagen in humans! It can reduce joint pain. Collagen is concentrated in our joints. When collagen breaks down, we see more joint pain and inflammation. Increasing your consumption of collagen and increasing your body's production of collagen can make a major difference in joint pain and inflammation. Of course it goes without saying that this isn't a miracle food. There are tons of foods with health benefits & that doesn't mean you should eat them if you don't love them. Telling yourself that you MUST choke something down because it's good for you is a fast track to giving up. You've got to eat foods you love that love you back. That means: Eat foods you look forward to eating & totally enjoy Eat foods that make you feel great both while you're eating it & afterwards (no guilt or regret) Eat foods that give you energy and satiety without any kind of stomach upset or bloating If this fits the bill, awesome! If not, not a big deal. For those of you who are ready to make your own, I fashion my "recipe" after Dr. Axe. His recipe is super simple and he taught me the Apple Cider Vinegar trick: adding a little ACV helps to draw the nutrients from the bones! Chicken necks, feet and backbone 4 tbsp ACV 1 onion Carrots Place everything in your crockpot & cover with water. Cook on low for 24 hours then discard the bones. I sip on a cup or two cups per day. Here are 4 chicken bone broth recipes from Mark Sisson and 5 beef broth recipes If you have a pressure cooker, save time with this bone broth recipe from Nom Nom Paleo Resources: Glycine and meat consumption - research For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

Nov 24, 2016 • 16min
261: The 1-Hour Strategy To Create More Winning Days
What is the one hour strategy? Great question. I came up with it the other day while brainstorming a few ways to help some of my clients. It is often straight-up hard to create momentum with good choices you feel proud of when you haven't been making them consistently. Breaking the cycle of choices you don't feel good about and repeatedly making choices you do feel good about, well, that's not always easy. Enter: the one hour strategy. http://primalpotential.com/261-one-hour-strategy-create-winning-days/ The One Hour Strategy To Create More Winning Days The one hour strategy is based on one or all of the following questions: What can I do in the next hour to take care of myself? What's the best way to spend the next hour? What can I do in the next hour to feel proud or more in control? In the next hour, what choices would be my best? You can implement the one hour strategy in the middle of a tough day, at the start of a day, or towards the end of a day during which you need to feel more balanced, focused or in control. You can use the one hour strategy once or you can use it every day for the rest of your life. The one hour strategy can help you focus at work, it can help you overcome temptation, it can increase the consistency of your workouts and help improve your relationships. Give it a try and let me know what you think! Resources: For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

Nov 22, 2016 • 29min
260: Anti-Diet Holiday Success Strategies
Is it weird for me to say that I love this episode? Because I REALLY love this episode. I used to DREAD holidays, vacations, dinners out, birthdays and pretty much any celebration because I had no idea how to enjoy myself and enjoy the food without going way far overboard. That was exhausting and a lot harder than it needed to be. In today's episode I'm sharing anti-diet holiday success strategies so you can enjoy your holiday, enjoy your food and feel great afterwards. You don't need to ditch your goals to enjoy the holidays and you also don't need to deprive yourself of the special things that are really worth indulging in. http://primalpotential.com/260-anti-diet-holiday-success-strategies/ Anti-Diet Holiday Success Strategies In today's episode, I ask you to consider a couple of questions: What would it look like for you to go to a holiday gathering, party or dinner out and feel amazing during and after? What would you need to change to make that your new normal? What's "the middle" for you - that area between deprivation and over-indulgence? Which indulgences are totally worth it? Which indulgences aren't worth it? What's your favorite thing about holidays or gatherings? How can you amplify those elements? Which choices make you feel your worst? How can you make improvements there? When consuming an indulgence, at what point does eating more make you enjoy it less rather than more? What can you do, in preparation for a holiday or vacation, to make yourself feel amazing? Resources: For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

Nov 19, 2016 • 20min
259: Do You Know What To Eat For Your Goals?
Today's episode is an activity I want you to go through with me. I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to write your answers down on paper. Sometimes, we aren't doing what it takes to make progress because we haven't defined the work we need to do. If that's your problem, I'm going to help you define it today. Other times, we aren't doing what it takes because of mental or emotional barriers. As I'll share in today's episode, many people's issues aren't food or fitness but rather self-talk, self-discipline or self-doubt. We'll start with a basic question "Do you know what to eat for your goals?" and take it from there. If you're looking to overcome your internal barriers, be sure to check out FAQs about Breaking Barriers here or enroll here. http://primalpotential.com/259-what-to-eat-for-your-goals/ Do You Know What To Eat To Reach Your Goals? In today's episode, I talk you through a workflow of the following problems so you can determine your next steps toward your goals. Do you know what to eat for fat loss or to move towards your goals? Can you identify improvements in what you're currently eating or doing that would generate more progress or consistency? Are you doing those things? What would need to change for you to implement those improvements? Don't miss the full episode where I'll help you determine if your "big rock" is nutrition or if it's mindset. Resources: For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017! Wanna Help? If you find the Primal Potential podcast help, it would mean the world to me if you'd take a minute to leave a rating & review! That helps show platforms display my podcast to new listeners! Thank you so much for your support! I can't tell you how valuable it is!

Nov 17, 2016 • 21min
258: 4 Required Skills You Can't Be Successful Without
In episode 257 I talked about the danger of diets. I repeated what I've said a million times before: short term strategies lead to short term solutions. However, I talked about how there aren't short cuts to lasting success. If you want to not yo-yo diet anymore, if you want to not obsess about food and weight loss for the rest of your life, if you want to feel like you can enjoy indulgences without guilt or regression, there are certain skills you HAVE to build and most diets aren't teaching them. In today's episode, I'm talking in more detail about those 4 skills and going through specific, real-life examples of how you can begin to build them today. http://primalpotential.com/258-4-required-skills/ 4 Required Skills You Can't Be Successful Without Thinking before you act & not being owned by your impulses or emotions Living in the middle (not being only "on" or "off") Becoming a "now" person (and not putting off your goals until tomorrow, next week or next month) Paying more attention to your body and your goals than other people or programs In today's episode I'll explain why these are critical skills required for success but also how you can begin practicing them today.

Nov 15, 2016 • 15min
257: The Appeal of a New Diet
I think we can all relate to being attracted by a diet promising rapid results. We want the results and that matters more, in the moment, than whether or not we can sustain them. I loved what I read in a recent issue of The Harvard Business Review: The good news is, you're making good time. The bad news is, you're lost. All too often, we care more about pace than sustainability. This means that we do the same work over and over, we spend far too much time, money and energy on results we won't sustain. In today's episode, I'm sharing something that most people aren't talking about. It's really not about how you lose the weight. It's about whether or not you develop the life skills you'll need to sustain your results. http://primalpotential.com/257-the-appeal-of-a-new-diet-what-no-one-is-telling-you/

Nov 12, 2016 • 33min
256: Anti-Perfection & Why There Is No "Wagon"
A couple months ago I shared with you guys that I was taking on a scary-for-me challenge: hot yoga. Specifically, 45 90-minute hot yoga classes in 45 days. The 45 days have now gone by (dang, time flies) and I'm sharing with you my final thoughts. Specifically, I'm sharing what this challenge taught me about all-or-nothing thinking and why there is no "wagon". Yeah, that notion of being on or off "the wagon" has got to go! http://primalpotential.com/256-there-is-no-wagon/ Anti-Perfection & Why There Is No "Wagon" I didn't make it to 45 classes in 45 days and I still count it as a massive win. Yeah, we build this vision of perfection and expectation when we start something new or set a goal. That's normal. What's normal but not helpful is to see anything short of that vision as "failure". It's not black and white. There are more possible outcomes and more possible ways to win than the way you've pre-defined it. In fact, I think success will almost NEVER look like you envision it before you start. Don't sell yourself a destructive story that anything other than your pre-defined vision of success is a failure. That's just not true! In today's episode we're talking about other ways to find success, to be successful even when it isn't "perfect" and why there is no "wagon". Don't miss the full episode! Resources: For more on Breaking Barriers, click here. Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017! Wanna Help? If you find the Primal Potential podcast help, it would mean the world to me if you'd take a minute to leave a rating & review! That helps show platforms display my podcast to new listeners! Thank you so much for your support! I can't tell you how valuable it is!


