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My Lessons Learned: An example of LESS IS MORE!

By: Debbie Potts
Date: March 1, 2020

My Lessons Learned: An example of LESS IS MORE!

Lessons learned that LESS IS MORE… MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER!

My lessons learned from LIVING LIFE AS A RACE for too many years …without knowing it of course.

I realized yesterday how much I have been forced to change my lifestyle habits.

As I tell my health coaching clients- you can’t out exercise a bad diet…and you can’t out supplement poor lifestyle habits.

We work on transforming the WHOLE you from the inside out with the lifestyle elements of “The WHOLESTIC Method”

As a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner – we create an individualized “D.R.E.S.S. for Health Success” protocol for each client

D = Diet

R = Rest

E = Exercise

S = Stress Reduction

S = Supplements

WE need to work on improving all these areas as well as my elements in “The WHOLESTIC Method” coaching program.

If you don’t work on improving what you eat, how you eat, when you eat and why you eat FIRST then we don’t get very far in your healing and rebuilding program.

If you don’t work improving your sleep – we don’t get very far in your program.

If you do not identify and reduce your external stressors and H.I.D.D.E.N. internal stressors with the right type of investigation, well-chosen functional lab tests and clinical correlation to look at the WHOLE picture- then we don’t get very far in your healing and rebuilding program.

If we only take supplements and not change any of these lifestyle changes – (D.R.E.S.) then we really don’t make much progress in your healing and rebuilding program to achieve your optimal health and resolve your health concerns/complaints (contributors or causes of your “METABOLIC CHAOS”).

What did I do yesterday that create my self-awareness on how much I have personally transformed and evolved since 2013?

It was a sunny early spring day at the end of February in Bellevue (Seattle). The sun was shining, and the sky was blue… the temperature was around 55’.

What does that mean into me in the winter?

GET OUT ON THE BIKE ASAP!

I had a busy day… it was Thursday, so I have my personal training clients in the morning.

Here is how my busy day started…

515AM morning swim (I have been on the spin bike doing MAF training for one hour then swim at 12pm but today I made the switch based on the weather!)
Drinking my own French press coffee (Blue Bottle today!) with a splash of organic heavy cream and cinnamon plus water bottle with mineral drops and sea salt throughout the morning.
7am-11am personal training clients (I only train clients for 30 or 45-minute sessions as they get enough of what they need when I train them in a thoughtful organized fashion!
11:15AM-12:15PM Client run/walk 5 miles – we run 2 minutes and walk 1 minute to keep his heart rate in healthy range …not too high for too long.

I was done with my personal training clients and back home by 12:30pm… I had a client coming to use my Infrared Therapy Treatment room at 3pm. Then I had a 4:30pm coaching call then personal training client in his house (lives a few miles away from my home!) 5pm-6pm.

So, if it was a sunny day… would you ride 12:45pm to 2:45pm? Or….?

The old me would have packed my day non-stop so I could get more time out on my bike to enjoy the early spring day, fresh air, sunshine and time with my bike (happy place).

I would have rushed home, thrown my bike clothes on quickly, jump on my bike and ride a 2-hour bike loop. I would have not eaten anything until 3:30pm as I was busy!

What have I learned since my “breakdown and burnout” in 2013?

Less is more. More is not always better!
Leave more “space” between appointments, meetings and events.
Carve out time to “reset, reboot and recalibrate”
Sit down and eat your meal rather than multi-tasking and snacking
I can get a quality workout in one hour, just as I could in two hours
Breathing… slowly and intentionally.
Stop rushing and panicking trying to do too much in one day

So, what did I do this time?

I arrived home at 12:30pm as I was drinking my Athletic Greens + Kion Aminos on my way home from running with my client. FYI… I now make my organic coffee (Kion coffee) in the morning in a French Press (4 minutes!) and Athletic Greens plus Kion Aminos (5 grams) into my shaker bottle with ice and water to take with me in my car- consume post workout or mid-morning.
FYI- I was being strict on fasting 16 or more hours each day – avoiding “breaking my fast” with drinks at Athletic Greens even if I was exercising and busy with client sessions (I don’t workout with my clients as I watch their form and alignment). Now I am experimenting with my green/amino plus Vespa in the day before my “main meal”.
I unpacked my bag and got organized for my 3pm client in the Infrared (FRED).
I got my bike ready, tired pumped and put it outside the garage – ready to go
Stopped, paused and had a snack… handful of mixed raw nuts with sea salt as I hadn’t eaten much yet today and experimenting on how my energy and workout performance improves if I do have something to eat versus prolonged fasting on days with multiple workout sessions. I also did take a VESPA (ideally 30 minutes) before my 5-mile run at 11AM.
I took my time getting ready for my bike ride and making sure I was organized for the rest of the day.
Instead of cramming my “appointments” back to back and not eating a meal – I made sure to carve in time to cook my meal and sit to eat instead of rushing!
I did a shorter bike loop for 1hr-1hr15 and enjoyed every minute of it – keeping my heart rate in MAF range 120-130 (for me). I would do more intervals but today I was into fat burning range based on my cycle (end of phase two) so best to do more fat burning training.
My timing went right, and I had 45 minutes to cook and eat my meal… Butcher Box (my favorite monthly shipment) ground beef, Savory Seasonings, Kerry Gold Grass Fed Butter with goat cheese plus I had some mixed nuts. Desert was a spoonful of almond butter with a square of dark chocolate. 2:15pm-3pm.
My clients and meetings were 3pm-6pm and finally home 630pm to pack and organize for the next day then chat with my amazing husband.
Pre-bed ritual… cold room, dimmed lights, read in bed, lavender essential oil on pillows (spray). My goal is to read AT LEAST three pages (with my 1.25 readers) of a paper book If I try to read anything on my iPad- as I have multiple articles and PDF books to read- I get very distracted and mutli-task with Goggle searches, social media, emails and more! I must put my phone and iPad in the kitchen … as well as goal to turn off and disconnect or unplug for sure by 7pm.
Also- I don’t do well at eating before bed so I don’t eat during the week (Sunday-Thursday for sure) after 5pm… somedays earlier depending on when I had my main meal based on my schedule that day.

I realized I used to THRIVE on being busy and RUSHING all day long… which is not good for me as I do not like being late. If I am not on time- I find myself getting anxious and irritable- stressed… and we all know now how ANY type of external or internal stress is CHRONIC non-stop will contribute to over loading your “beaker of stress” – leading to internal breakdown and burnout of all body systems from a cellular level or what Reed Davis, the founder of FDN terms “METABOLIC CHAOS®”.

You know yourself best- what would you do on a day as today? Sun is shining and you have a full work schedule… would you push your limits and bike longer or be reasonable and not cause yourself to go into “panic” stress mode by rushing and cramming too much in a short amount of time?

One of my favorite quotes and t-shirt even says… “I wish I knew back then what I know now”. Here is my mantra… share and post as you need! Enjoy each day as it is your last. Enjoy the process. Embrace the changes. Focus on the positive and shift your attitude.

Life is a journey. Slow down and enjoy the ride! Be focused and in the moment- be aware of your RED FLAGS and respect what your body is telling you… slow down, reset, reboot and recalibrate (alt-ctrl-delete) the WHOLE you from the inside out with “The WHOLESTIC Method”.

Learn from my experience. My mission is to help you avoid going through what happened to me starting back in 2013! Learn all about ME and my personal journey in my book available on AMAZON… “Life is Not a Race… it is a Journey with The WHOLESTIC Method”.

This past weekend I was at the NTA “THRIVE” conference – just in time for focusing on sharing my personal story, my struggles, being authentic and showing my vulnerability to you. We need to be REAL and be authentic – even on social media where people often hide their “areas of opportunity” instead of using it to learn, grow and inspire others.

The struggle is real.

It is hard to improve fat loss, athletic performance and the aging process for an individual – as well as a female …and as well as for the FEMALE ATHLETE.

As I continue to expose my “areas of opportunities” and my “gifts” – I am sharing my “REAL” self to help you learn from my journey, my years of over training, under eating and avoiding your RED FLAGS.

Woman are different than men… not only do we have different body parts, as penis and breasts, but we have different optimal hormone levels and changes. Men don’t have a monthly menstrual cycle and experience hormone changes. Men do struggle with their own hormone imbalances including cortisol, thyroid, DHEA, estrogen and testosterone.

We all have struggles and should strive to learn about our bio-individuality and take everything we hear with a grain of salt. Use recommendations as a template for your health start – your new journey towards THRIVING each day instead of just trying to get through the day and SURVIVE the day!

For my workouts the past weekend, I went for a “run” on Friday afternoon during our conference lunch break as I need to move and be outside – plus get a sweat but my legs and body was tired as I had an early (very short) flight to Portland then sitting all morning. I didn’t feel great so I honored my body’s red flags and signals to me to RUN and then WALK. Focus on the journey and being outdoors in the fresh air, blue sky and sunshine. These are the workouts when you ignore the pace and just enjoy being able to MOVE outside.

The next day, I work up early as I usually do without an alarm and eventually made it to the Hilton gym to lift weights, work on single leg squats/lunges and work on hip mobility drills. Then in the afternoon, during our lunch break, I had time for my run (five miles each day) outside in the fresh air- no blue sky and no sunshine but the fresh air was a definite need for my mind, body and spirit. My run felt so much better- improved mobility in my hips, run stride and performance. Why? I don’t know but I believe my mobility hip openers always help my running form and my extra sleep/rest helped my heart rate (HRV) and pace.

Lessons learned? Listen to your body’s feedback.

Sunday, this morning, I went for a morning run before our last day of conference sessions. I didn’t lift weights as I will be doing that tomorrow with my husband, but today I did some client coaching work then went for a run… how long?

I started my run with the intention to do a “longer” run as I have been focusing on shorter runs and working on heart rate training as my heart rate, run fatigue and performance has been my main area of opportunity to repair or resolve! I started out feeling good as I often do but I thought I should just go for a five mile easy run and avoid going for eight miles or doing any intervals. Plus I needed to get back for the conference sessions and connect with other people while I was in town.

The old me would have had the mindset that Sunday = long run day. A long run is easily more than eight “measly” miles. My short run workouts would be 5-8 miles during the weekdays …now life is different.

Who does a long run of eight miles? Piece of cake.

Not at this time for me… five miles is long for me! After all of the many half marathons, marathons, 50k trail running events, 70.3 triathlons and Ironman’s… five miles is now long.

Do you want to know my personal story and understand my passion, purpose and mission?

Please head to Amazon and order my book… LIFE IS NOT A RACE – it is a Journey if you want to avoid going down this internal health breakdown and burnout at a cellular level since 2013. I am on a mission to help you endurance athletes, female athletes and anyone struggling with chronic stress.

I could never find help for myself until I looked into becoming a certified Functional Nutritional Therapy Association (FNTP) and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner. As a health detective and FDN-P, we look at the WHOLE picture- not looking at one lab or treating your symptoms. We work on investigating your WHOLE story by collecting data to your missing pieces of your puzzle to restore your health, vitality and ability to THRIVE each day.

Do not blame the aging process …

Do not accept your current health condition, energy and unexplained health complaints as the “new you” and your “new normal”.

Do something about taking care of the WHOLE you with “The WHOLESTIC Method” coaching program.

We collect data and clues using functional lab tests, various nutritional therapy assessments, “METABOLIC CHAOS” evaluation, and genetic data intake information to help our individualized investigation to transform the WHOLE you from the inside out. Once we clinically correlate all of your clues and data collected, we put your missing pieces of the puzzle together using the FDN process- and create your “D.R.E.S.S. for Health Success” protocol to repair, rebuild and restore the WHOLE you.

Ask me for more questions or schedule a 15-minute complimentary consult to see if my 90-day coaching program is the right fit for your needs, goals and personality!

Debbie Potts.

A few of my recommended Lifestyle Supplements Links: