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What's in store for today:

• The Massage Gun That Made Me The Best Husband Ever
• High Protein Hot Chocolate For This Holiday Season 
• Uncomfortable Truths About Weight Loss

Hey friend,

Fun little personal update today before we dive into this weeks Feel Good Friday shares ☕️🍫

As you may know, in addition to all the work I do with Healthy & Whole, I recently started producing music as another way of encouraging folks who need it on their journey in life.

Up to this point I've just been sharing songs here and there, but hadn't published any of it on any streaming platforms...Until today :)

As of today I have started to release songs on major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, etc. under the artist name Shades of Hope.  

This is essentially a multi-genre faith based music venture / ministry where I'll be releasing songs every week (if possible) as well as producing devotionals and other materials that I'll be putting out on Youtube in the coming weeks.  

So stay tuned for more, but the first OFFICIAL song release, No Shortcuts Going Where We Are is now up on major streaming platforms for you to enjoy and share.  

With that out of the way, here's your Feel Good Friday...

The Massage Gun That Made Me The Best Husband Ever 🥳

Like MANY, my wife Joani struggles with tension, knots, and all sorts of pain and discomfort in her traps and upper back.  

She is almost always in pain and begging for a backrub to help relieve some of her discomfort.

And, while I am always happy to oblige, I'm not the best at it and my hands tire out faster than she would like 😂

So for her birthday this week I did a TON of research to find the best value on the market for a therapuetic massage gun, and I bought her this guy right here...The Bob & Brad D6 Pro Plus.  

Initial research said that the best gun on the market was actually a different massage gun, the Theragun Pro, which is a pricey son of a gun at $649.99 on Amazon...

But with further research I found out that the Bob & Brad D6 Pro Plus is basically the exact same thing...but on sale right now for only $214.99 🙌🏻

It's stronger, has the same massage depth of 16mm for deep massage, and has a nice carrying case with all the necessary attachments including a heated attachment.  

Joani LOVES it.  

And now...I can give her longer and more effective massages using this than I ever could before.  

If you are in the market for a good quality massage gun at a value price, this is my pick and it's been excellent so far.  

High Protein Hot Chocolate Without The Guilt

If there is one thing we LOVE in the Portwood House...it is a nice warm cup of hot cocoa as the weather turns cold and the Christmas music starts to fill the house 🎄

Here is a super simple, high protein, low calorie hot cocoa option you can make using only 2 essential ingredients from your local Walmart, and you can embellish it with a couple of extra ingredients if you really want to spruce it up ☕️🍫

I used Swiss Miss No Sugar Added Hot Cocao mix in this recipe, which is 80 calories per packet, but it is even BETTER if you use their Reduced Calorie Hot Cocoa which is only 40 calories per packet 🤯

Matt's Simple High Protein Hot Cocoa Recipe

Makes 1 Serving:
Calories: 160 Per Cup
Protein: 15g (42%)
Net Carb: 19g

Ingredients:
- 1 Packet No Sugar Added Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix OR Reduced Calorie Hot Cocoa Mix
- 1 Cup Fairlife Fat Free Ultra Filtered Milk

No rocket science here, just heat up your fat free ultrafiltered milk in a glass in the microwave for 60-90 seconds as needed to get it hot.  Then put your hot cocoa mix into the bottom of your favorate mug and pour the hot milk on top and stir it together.  

Viola...high protein hot chocolate.  

Optional Low Calorie Additions:

• Zero Calorie Sugar Fre Skinny Flavoring Syrups such as Jordan's White Chocolate Peppermint Syrup or Jordan's Peppermint Mocha Syrup.  Just a dash will turn this into a perfectly sweet peppermint hot cocoa.

• 1-2 Sugar Free Max Mallow Marshmallows.  These are only 15 calorie for 2 marshmallows and would melt nicely into this hot cocoa.  

26 Uncomfortable Truths About Weight Loss

👉🏻 Doing ab exercises will not reduce fat in your mid-section…the only thing that will reduce fat ANYWHERE on your body is being in a calorie deficit.

👉🏻 If you aren’t losing weight, it is not because you are building muscle...it is because you are not in a calorie deficit. It’s an accuracy issue. Don’t fall into this trap. 

👉🏻 There is no such thing as starvation mode that causes you to store everything you eat as fat because you aren’t eating enough. This is a fallacy driven by coaches who can’t explain why their clients aren’t losing weight. Again, it's a calorie deficit issue. 

👉🏻 Hiring a personal trainer can help you get stronger, more flexible, and more comfortable in the gym, but it won’t produce weight loss / fat loss…unless you fix your food and get into a calorie deficit.

👉🏻 You can run, walk, or workout all you want, but unless you balance your food intake you will never lose a pound, let alone keep it off.

👉🏻 You can be perfect all week long and undo your entire weeks calorie deficit in one binge, cheat meal, or cheat day.

👉🏻 There is no realm of reality where a person permanently loses weight or controls their weight without some level of sacrifice, self control, compromise, thought, and intentionality every day of their life.

👉🏻 You do not have to completely give up alcohol to lose weight and keep it off, but most people cannot responsibly moderate it enough to get results.

👉🏻 If you are not willing to reduce or eliminate alcohol for a period of time to fix your health, then you should reflect on why that is and what that truthfully says about your relationship with alcohol.

👉🏻 You can still eat out, vacation, and enjoy the holidays while losing weight and then maintaining it…but there WILL still be limits to that enjoyment. If you can’t accept that, you’ll never get the results you want.

👉🏻 There is in fact no DIRECT connection between what is going on around you and the food you choose to consume. When properly educated, at a bare minimum even when there are no great food options, you can at LEAST portion correctly. The fact that you use life circumstances of any kind to go off the rails with your eating is not a problem with the circumstances, it’s a problem of either commitment, or deeper emotional dependency on food for comfort.

👉🏻 Eating “pretty good” is not enough, and most often what you might deem as “healthy” is actually a far cry from what is necessary for you to successfully lose weight or be healthy. There’s a big difference between “pretty good” and doing what is required for success.

👉🏻 There is no realm of reality where you sustainably lose weight without becoming a student of nutrition and healthy lifestyle skills. Life is complex and requires knowledge and skill to navigate to stay healthy and fit. This is why less than 10% lose weight and keep it off. They are looking for a fix instead of BECOMING the fix.

👉🏻 Being jealous or resentful of what other people can “get away with” versus what you have to do to lose weight is killing your results. Your reality is very different from your children’s, your spouse, or anyone else. Their reality is their reality. Your reality is YOUR reality.

👉🏻 Losing weight and keeping it off in a culture where 80% of the population is overweight, obese, or morbidly obese means you must be 100% OK with not doing what everyone else does. It is better to be respected and admired for your discipline than accepted for being as unhealthy as everyone else is.

👉🏻 Whatever you do to lose the weight, you have to keep doing it on some level the rest of your life otherwise you will gain the weight back. Following some restrictive “diet” or excessive exercise routine that forces weight loss is a waste of time. If you don’t enjoy it, then you will never stick with it.

👉🏻 Obsessing over useless details like meal timing, food dyes, artificial sweeteners, biohacks, and otherwise getting sucked into the wide world of predatory internet guru bullshit is distracting you from the simple truth that will get you results…you simply need to understand how to balance your food intake with your calorie output in a way that produces a healthy weight in a way that you enjoy and will sustain. The rest…does…not…matter.

👉🏻 If you feel “tired” in a calorie deficit and you are losing at a healthy rate of weight loss, it’s not a sign that you need more food or more carbohydrate. That would be counter intuitive. It’s a sign that you are either dehydrated / electrolyte depleted, have some other nutrient deficiency that needs to be addressed, have a hormone imbalance that needs to be addressed, or have some other underlying medical issue driving the fatigue. It’s not a fuel issue. Don’t fall into this trap.

👉🏻 If anyone around you is uncomfortable with the fact that you are eating differently, drinking less, etc. and attempts to pressure you or guilt you in any way shape or form…this is a THEM problem not a YOU problem. If they can’t accept you and the fact that you are elevating yourself…then you may need to separate yourself, and find a better tribe that aligns with your values.

👉🏻 True sustainable weight loss and identity formation doesn’t happen in 30 days, or even 6 months for most people. It takes 12-24+ months for the average person. Your obsession with fast results will forever prevent you from taking the time to do it right.

👉🏻 Investing in yourself to get coaching is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of intelligence.

👉🏻 Past failed attempts have nothing to do with your ability to lose weight and keep it off in the future. It’s not a YOU problem. Your body is not broken or incapable of weight loss. You just never had the right strategy, guidance, or approach. Fix the approach and you’ll be just as successful as anyone else.

👉🏻 If it’s not working…the answer isn’t to sabotage or give up. The answer is to get curious and to understand WHY it’s not working. The answer to that question might be uncomfortable, because it highlights that you need to grow and get better. But the truth is the truth. You can face it and get better, or you can hide from it. But only one path leads to the change you want.

👉🏻 Emotional eating is no different from alcohol or drug abuse. It is a coping and dependency driven problem. Trying to resist it will only go so far. At some point in time you are going to have to face your demons, upgrade your ways of thinking and processing the world around you, let go of some things, and GROW your way out of your need for comfort from food.

👉🏻 Healthy habits require a certain amount of time and energy. We all have the same 24 hours to play with. There is no scenario of success where you do not have to scale back your filling of other people’s cups to fill your own.

👉🏻 An aversion to fill your own cup is a sure fire signal of a lack of self love and self worth. This is a bit of a catch 22. You feel that you are not worthy of pouring into your own cup with time, space, energy, or financial investment to be healthy. Yet, the only way to signal to yourself that you ARE worthy and loved…is to do just that.

💛 If any of these hit home, let me know 💛

🎬 YouTube Video 🎬

21 Grocery Foods That Make Fat Loss Easy

Finding ways to lower your calorie intake and increase your protein can be really hard without feeling like you are removing all the joy and fun from your food.  These grocery finds are some of my go to's that make losing weight and keeping it off MUCH easier and more sustainable.  

Watch the full video here.

A Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

“The first element of change is awareness. You can’t change something unless you know it exists.”

- T. Harv Eker

When you're ready, here's how I can help:

If you're looking to lose weight sustainably while building a flexible lifestyle that you enjoy, I can help.   Apply for coaching here in the Healthy & Whole Mentorship Program.  

Disclaimer: This email is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.