When it comes to building healthy habits, small decisions add up over time. Many people are unaware that the thoughts we put in our minds are just as important as the food we put in our mouths. Karissa Adkins divulges how she was able to shift her mindset from unhealthy habits to healthier ones--and, evidently, the work has paid off! She was able to lose 100 pounds in a healthy and sustainable way, and, most importantly, gain habits that helped her “boss up” and become the best version of herself. Karissa is a powerhouse, with a career as a best-selling author, global influencer, and the ultimate mindset coach. As a health and wellness expert, and CEO of the 365DailyHustle, her advice helps mom entrepreneurs and those looking to level up or “boss up” in their lives. This passion was inspired by her personal journey undergoing a complete mental, emotional and physical transformation. Throughout it all, Karissa continues to be an inspiration for women who are looking to take the next step and live happily, healthy, and successfully. Join us on this week’s episode to learn some fabulous and important techniques to give you insight and awareness, and some useful methods that you can apply in order to achieve a positive mindset. This episode is guaranteed to leave you feeling empowered, motivated, and inspired to level up in a way like never before. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your favorite podcast platform. Topics Covered: Adopting a healthy mindset to overcome unhealthy eating habits Finding ways to make healthier choices easier choices How to level up or “boss up” in your life! Why is mindset so important to weight loss? Dealing with stress and finding time for your own self-care Living a happy, healthy, and successful life. Resources Mentioned: BossUp Babe Radio Show with Karissa Adkins: Helping Babes BossUp, ShowUp, & Thrive! 365 Daily Hustle Instagram 365 Daily Hustle Guest Info To learn more about Karissa, go to her website or follow her on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/365.daily.hustle/. Follow Us: Apple Podcasts Spotify Transcript Alison Swerdloff: [00:00:00] Welcome to Mind Body Success with your hosts, Alison Swerdloff and Dr. Liesa Harte. Listen, along as we take you on a life-changing journey into creating success by incorporating; mindfulness, self-care, mindset, and personal development. Open your mind, let your adventurous side out and allow us to motivate you to remove the hustle and overwhelm while shifting your current reality to the life of your dreams. Through conversations with high achievers, you will learn tips, tools, and strategies to overcome challenges and live a life of prosperity and abundance. Liesa & Alison: [00:00:42] Let the adventure begin. Alison Swerdloff: [00:00:49] Welcome to Mind Body Success. Liesa and I are happy you've joined us for another wonderful conversation. Today, we are joined by Karissa Adkins, speaker, coach, radio show host, best-selling author boss babe, and mother. Karissa's story sounds similar to that of many of us today, as she was trying to be everything to everyone else, but realized she was struggling to find happiness, balance, and self-love. After her aha moment, she changed her life forever and now works with other women, empowering them to do the same. Today, Karissa is a certified life, health, and mindset coach, through Health Coach Institute, a certified personal trainer, motivational speaker, founder of 365 Day Hustle, and best-selling co-author of "Women Who Bossup." We're excited to hear how she shifted her mindset, how she continues to utilize mindfulness and how she guides others to be their best selves as well. Karissa, thank you so much for being our guest today. Karissa: [00:01:49] Hello, I'm so excited to be on y'all's podcast and just help spread the word. Alison Swerdloff: [00:01:56] Awesome. Dr. Liesa Harte: [00:01:57] So, I keep hearing about your aha moment. I'd love to know what was your aha? How did all this get started? Karissa: [00:02:05] All of this, right? Well, who I am today is definitely not who I was 11 years ago, that is for sure. I don't know any woman who is the same woman that we were five, 10, 15, 20 years ago. Then my aha moment comes really in two parts. Because at the first aha, my eyes weren't quite open yet. And then the second aha just smacked me like nobody's business. So I was stationed in Germany with my family. We are an active duty family; we were stationed there. And I was sitting in the doctor's office, and that doctor looked at me and she said, "Karissa, if you do not change your lifestyle today, you will not be around for your little girl." Who was running around in her office at the time. She said "You will not be around for her. I can't guarantee that you'll be here in 10, 15 years." And I was just at first shocked, I was a little upset, and then I was just like, "What are you kidding me?" And she said, "Honey, you are five-foot-tall, you're 213 pounds, you're considered obese." Yeah, and I mean, if you can see me now, most people wouldn't even recognize. I mean, I've lost almost 100 pounds. Alison Swerdloff: [00:03:16] That's awesome. Karissa: [00:03:17] Thank you. And that was the moment that really opened my eyes. So there I was, I was upset, I was embarrassed. I knew I was overweight. I hated the way I looked, but how dare anyone call me out on how I looked. And more importantly, it made me feel so incredibly disappointed in myself. And I felt guilty, and I was like, "I am a mom, what happened to me?" And so I shooed my child, grabbed my stuff, and I stormed out the office. I'm Puerto Rican, I probably said a few words that were not the best. I definitely let my temper get the best of me at that time, because I was so hurt, I was so hurt. And that night, I drive home. I'm having this giant conversation out loud, and in my head. I don't know if you guys have ever had one of those, where you're just so worked up and you're like, "How dare her?" And my little daughter is just looking at me in the back, in the rearview mirror. And I'm like, "Okay, I'm sorry." So we get home, I smoke about a pack of cigarettes that night. Drink at least two bottles of wine, cried myself to sleep, and thought if I could just wake up tomorrow and forget this all ever happened. Like, "I don't want to deal with that kind of news, are you kidding me?" And so that's what I did. But turns out when you've had some honest truth being told to you, your life, it's not really the same anymore, when it finally hits you. And I woke up and I sent my son off to the bus stop, and I got home and this is where the second aha comes. So I walked him to the bus stop, I sit on the couch, I grab a cup of coffee, and I look over at a picture of my mom. And then for the first time, ladies, in my entire life, I saw just how heavy she was. For the first time, it was insane to see that. I saw all 320 pounds. I saw her battle with cancer, and diabetes, and her lack of energy. And that was the moment that I saw myself in her for the first time. I'd always wanted to be like my mom, she was like a crazy hustling woman, doing the dang thing for me and my family, me and the kid. And I was just like, "Oh my gosh, if I don't change, that's who I'm going to be." And I love my mom, don't get me wrong, she was my best friend. She was my teacher, actually, I worked for her, we were just so close. But I learned that what I didn't want that day. And I saw myself in her, and that was the moment that I was like, "Karissa, you don't know what you need to do, you just need to get up. You need to change your life; you need to raise your standards. Because what you're doing isn't working, and it's got to change, enough is enough.". And ever since that day, my life has literally changed forever. Alison Swerdloff: [00:05:57] Now, what did you do to make those changes, and to figure out what changes you needed to do that? Or to go forward? Karissa: [00:06:07] The magic question. Because everyone's like, "Well, what do you do? How do you do it? How do you lose (crosstalk)? Alison Swerdloff: [00:06:12] We don't need every little bit, but... Karissa: [00:06:14] No, well, but at the end of the day, I always like to tell my clients, because they all come to me and they're like, "I don't know what to do, I don't know what diet to be on, I don't know what exercises to do. I don't know where to start. They're so overwhelmed and stressed out." And that's exactly where I was. But then I sat there after I realized, I kind of woke myself, I was like, "Okay, you're going to do this." And you actually probably know what you need to do. You've been thinking about it for years. All those shoulds, all those coulds, all those things that we say in our heads. I literally got a piece of paper, I was like, "What do you know about losing weight?" And I was like, "Well, I probably need to eat less," at the time because I coped a lot with my stress and my feelings with food, and food, booze, and (indistinct). Totally typical, like many women out there, food, booze, cigarettes, and work. And so I wrote down, "I need to stop eating so much and I need to start moving my body." And that's all I did y'all. I was like, "I don't know what I need to do, but I need to obviously move my body." So what does that mean? "I need to probably go to the gym and for right now, I'm just going to start working on eating less." And so that's what I did. And then as I mastered that one habit, I slowly took on more and more and more. Where it went from, "Okay, now I'm going to clean up the diet." And I had no idea what a clean diet looks like, literally, I was like "Chicken, and salad, and tuna, and crackers." Like just taking anything that I've known, and I was like, "Okay, we'll try it, because I have to change, I have to change." And so those were honestly the first two thi
