Simple Mindset Changes for a Successful 21DSD

Hey Folks! We’re excited to welcome back Certified 21DSD Coach Natalie Washabaugh. Natalie's article is part of a series of articles contributed by our Certified 21DSD Coaches. Enjoy! – Diane and Team

Congratulations! You did it!  

You’ve committed to making some important changes.  You’ve decided that now is the time to take your health and life into your own hands.  These decisions always come with a small thrill, a tingling of energy that signifies new things to come on the horizon, but what next? How do we go from deciding that we want to make changes and setting goals, to actually making them and then keeping them around for the long haul?

Sustainable changes are not always about what we are trying to change, but about our perspective toward those changes.

In order to feel successful on The 21-Day Sugar Detox, it is important to assess your current perspective and mindset towards the changes you are about to make.  Turn to the Yes/No lists in The 21 Day Sugar Detox guidebook on pages 70-71 for level 1,  pages 78-79 for level 2 or pages 86-86 for level 3.  How do those lists make you feel? Anxious, excited, angry, nervous, apathetic, irritated?  Accessing your mindset pre-detox and working on a mental shift before you embark on the next 21 days will allow for a smooth transition from your old way of eating.

Most people come to a detox, a new way of eating, an approach to habit change, or any new diet with a “subtraction mentality.”  They tend to focus on what is being taken away: what can no longer be eaten or done for a specific amount of time. With this perspective they make a mental, and sometimes actual, list of all the things no longer allowed in their life.  Everything becomes a big fat no!  No sugar, no processed foods, no fast food, no more sitting on the couch all day. Basically, no fun! This subtraction mentality leads to feelings of loss and deprivation, which can eventually lead to the demise of your recent changes.  Your goals seem too unattainable with this current mindset.

What if we looked at the detox with an “addition mentality”?

Our Yes/No lists can be viewed as a list full of YES!  A list full of possibilities that will aid you in this healthy transformation. The yes is crucial to your addition mentality. You are adding in a variety of nutritious and delicious foods that will leave you feeling the best version of you. Just say yes! Yes, to the most incredible array of vegetables. Yes to hydrating yourself with plenty of water. Yes to healthy fats like coconut oil, ghee and avocados that feed your cells. Yes to proteins that feed your muscles. Yes to getting more movement in every day.  Yes, yes, YES!

Say yes to your detox.  Say yes to all the incredible foods you are about to eat.  Say yes to ridding yourself of constant sugar cravings, fatigue and irritability.  Say yes to a life full of possibility. Say yes to a new you!

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Natalie Washabaugh-Jimenez is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), a certified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, a blogger at www.anourishedappetite.com, and a 21-Day Sugar Detox Certified Coach here to help you on the path to eliminating cravings and nourishing your body!