This week in the Washington Post, my daughter Kate Grace spoke about how over the past six months while preparing for the Olympic trials, doubt would unexpectedly pass through her mind….doubt that she couldn’t qualify for the Olympics.

Each time she met with this thought, she greeted it with the same three words….

“I’m an Olympian.” She would repeat it aloud to herself.

And here she is, an Olympian, through years of hard work and practicing techniques to break free from negative thought patterns.

As Kate has experienced, shifting your mind-set is a powerful choice. And because it doesn’t always look like a choice, people often miss it.

To be successful, it’s important to adopt the proper attitude to react to ever-changing circumstances. Knowing how and what you picture in your mind will create the mood you’re in and the kind of behaviors that follow.

Remember, the quality of life is determined NOT by what happens to you, but rather by what you do about what happens.

My attitude has always been that you need to pay attention to the chatter in your mind, and when it starts bad-mouthing the world, respond accordingly.

(To learn more about how to shift from negative to positive thoughts, listen to my podcast with Dr. Patrick Porter!)

I also like to use affirmations to shift my mindset and keep me on track.

Here’s the affirmation from Destination Satori that I’ve been saying lately. Sometimes I just recite “I am impactful” out loud, and sometimes I’ll rehears the whole affirmation.

I Am Impactful
I carve a path that impacts the vibration of others
and makes a difference in the world.
As I move through time and space,
I am influencing the course of everything
in front and behind me. By going forward,
I leave behind a changed environment
that ripples out in all directions.
I choose to make a positive impact on the world
with my thoughts, words and actions.

Sometimes, it’s easy to allow habits to control the day. There’s no doubt about it….Habits are powerful.

There’s a degree of internal discipline that’s needed in order to break out of the shell of habits in order to discover the wonderment and peace that surrounds you.

But that discipline can be as simple as a 3-breath practice.

So next time you’re feeling stuck or chaotic, there’s a simple but transformational practice that only takes 10 seconds, but will put you in-tune with the magic of the stillness of the present moment.

Here’s what to do…

1. Close your eyes, and relax your mind.

2. Let go of the chaotic story you’re telling yourself

3. Pause, and take three breaths. Take enough time in-between each breath to reconnect with where you are.

The beauty of this practice is that it creates a sacred space in your mind where you find yourself.

You drop the struggle.

You find a calm energy.

Before you begin the day, and you’re still curled up in bed, look through the window and begin your morning with this 3-breath practice. Drop the anxiety of the day ahead, and lay there…being exactly where you are.

And, whenever you find yourself making a gap in your mind and feel the stress seeping in, try the 3-breath practice.

Let fear, stress, and anxiety be like blowing a bubble….in an instant, you can pop it, and make room for serenity.

QUESTION: Every once in a while I get bloating and gas. It’s uncomfortable and embarrassing. What can I do to get rid of it?

Here’s what Anne Fabiny, MD and Editor in Chief of Harvard Women’s Health Watch says…

“Gas and bloating are tough to talk about, but we’ve all have had to deal with these afflictions at one time or another. Although they’re not pleasant, there are things you can do to prevent and treat them.”

“Most gas and bloating stem from your diet. When you eat, bacteria living in your gut feast on the carbohydrates your body can’t digest. They release hydrogen, methane, and other gases, which swell up your belly. Eventually your body expels the gas in the form of flatulence.”

“Gas also can be caused by air you swallow. Try eating smaller meals and chewing slowly, so you don’t inhale extra air. Avoid carbonated drinks, which can increase belching. Most of the time gas is more of an annoyance than a health issue.”

If you want to maintain a flat tummy, it’s IMPORTANT to keep your gut in a healthy zone.

Here are 4 foods that are easy to digest and will keep your gut lining on track.

1 – Liquid Gold (aka Bone Broth) – When made from scratch, bone broth is almost deceptively simple….water and animal bones simmered for hours into an immune-boosting, protein-rich stock. The benefits of the brew seem to be endless…from strengthening the gastrointestinal tract, while giving your body amino acids and important minerals such as potassium, proline and glycine.

2 – Good Fats – Don’t be afraid of fat! Eating avocado each day keeps the doctor away! Okay, maybe I made that saying up, but in moderation, healthy fats promote gut healing. My favorites are avocado, coconut oil, and salmon. 

3 – Fermented Foods – Foods that are fermented (such as sauerkraut, kimichi and kombucha) contain probiotics that help destroy bad bacteria (like candida), which helps your gut health. Probiotics are actually the “good” bacteria — or live cultures — just like those naturally found in your gut. These active cultures help change or repopulate intestinal bacteria to balance gut flora. This functional component may boost immunity and overall health, especially GI health. They also help balance the pH of your small intestines and stomach.

4 – Steamed Veggies– You already know by now that eating a hearty amount of vegetables is forefront in getting fit and staying healthy. But, steaming non-starchy veggies such as asparagus and kale is also an essential part of having a healthy gut lining. Try steaming a few pieces of asparagus and wrapping it with a lean slice of turkey. This will help curb your hunger throughout the day and keep you satisfied.

Eliminate These 4 Inflammation-Boosting Foods:

1 – GMO – Research from the Journal of Environmental Sciences shows that GMO foods cause organ inflammation and  destroy the probiotics in your gut.

2- Gluten – It’s tough to digest, unless it’s gone through a sprouting or sourdough process.

3 – Dairy from Cows  – Go for unsweeteened almond milk instead!

4 – Sugar – “Sugar, not fat, is the real villain that steals our health and sabotages our waistlines!” – Mark Hyman

More Tummy Trimming Exercises Here!

Here’s How To Do The Hollow Body Roll:

1. Lay on the ground with your hands above your head and your legs straight out. S
2. Slowly lift your legs and your arms, keeping your abs contracted. This is called “hollow body” position… a challenging position, because it requires your entire core to activate at once.
3. With a controlled motion, slowly lift your back while bringing your knees to your chest and your hands to your knees.
4. Hold this position for 2 seconds.
5. Lower your back and your legs to hollow body position (step 2) and repeat 10 times.

With celebrities such as Natalie Portman and Madonna joining the barre craze, it’s no wonder why barre studios are sweeping the nation. But this ballet-style workout is more than just a Hollywood hype. Barre workouts are the perfect way to improve balance and range-of-motion while developing lean muscle mass…especially in those hard-to-reach areas.

The best part is, you can reshape your glutes and get that beautiful curve without any weights. All you need is a chair, and you’re ready to work your rear! Remember, the key is to maintain proper form…keep your core activated, your abs pulled in, and your posture lifted.

Follow these 5 techniques to make the most of this lower body barre-tightening routine:

1. Tap into your inner ballerina as you practice the exercises, and it will reflect in your movement patterns.
2. Check your posture – if you catch yourself hunching over or leaning to one side, re-align your positioning. You shouldn’t feel tension in areas that you’re not targeting.
3. Think and focus, and the body will follow. Imagine trying to pinch a coin or a dollar bill in-between your cheeks. In other works, squeeze your buns toward the midline as you move through the routine. With each pulse, contract just a little harder.
4. When you’re all done, remember to stretch to help counteract the intensity of the workout!

The New York Times referred to a study about why high-impact exercises (such as jumping rope) are good for your bones, and important as you age, saying, “Bones should be jarred, for their own good. Past experiments have definitively established that subjecting bones to abrupt stress prompts them to add mass or at least reduces their loss of mass as people age.”

Today’s 4-min jump rope video from my Cardio Knockout DVD isn’t complicated…in fact, you don’t even need a jump rope…just use your imagination!

But, be prepared…this routine will take your calves, cardio and coordination to the next level. And, it will amp up your metabolism.

Plus, it’s fun.
Here’s what some women on Facebook shared with me about this workout…

Studies show walking is one of the best ways to banish the belly bulge. It’s simple. Only 2 1/2 hours of brisk walking a week (about 20 minutes a day) can shrink your belly by about 1 inch in 4 weeks.

But in order to get the most out of your walk and turn it into a tummy-toning workout, it is imperative to focus on activating the muscles in your core during your walk.

Here’s a trick to core activation which translates into a slim, trim belly…

Once you’re in your steady-state, activate your abdominals every other step. This will help keep your spine in a neutral position. And believe it or not, it will allow you to walk faster, which means burning more calories.

If you activate your muscles before your walk, it will increase your training effect dramatically.

The study in the New York Times followed contestants from The Biggest Loser (Season 8), and shockingly showed that out off all the participants, only one had kept their weight off.

In fact, the winner of the season ended up regaining more than 100 lbs.

“It has to do with resting metabolism, which determines how many calories a person burns when at rest. When the show began, the contestants, though hugely overweight, had normal metabolisms for their size, meaning they were burning a normal number of calories for people of their weight. When it ended, their metabolisms had slowed radically and their bodies were not burning enough calories to maintain their thinner sizes.

“What shocked the researchers was what happened next: As the years went by and the numbers on the scale climbed, the contestants’ metabolisms did not recover. They became even slower, and the pounds kept piling on. It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight.”

But with your body being a genetic warehouse, is dieting destroying more than just the metabolism? Yes. In fact, it can damage one of the body’s key hormones…leptin.

“Slower metabolisms were not the only reason the contestants regained weight, though. They constantly battled hunger, cravings and binges. The investigators found at least one reason:plummeting levels of leptin. The contestants started out with normal levels of leptin. By the season’s finale, they had almost no leptin at all, which would have made them ravenous all the time. As their weight returned, their leptin levels drifted up again, but only to about half of what they had been when the season began, the researchers found, thus helping to explain their urges to eat.

But, simply gradually cutting calories isn’t the final answer for weight loss success.

“There are no doubt exceptional individuals who can ignore primal biological signals and maintain weight loss for the long term by restricting calories,” [Dr. Ludwig] said, but he added that “for most people, the combination of incessant hunger and slowing metabolism is a recipe for weight regain — explaining why so few individuals can maintain weight loss for more than a few months.”

“The difficulty in keeping weight off reflects biology, not a pathological lack of willpower affecting two-thirds of the U.S.A.”