
I didn’t set out to master fat loss—I just wanted to feel better in my body.
There was no perfect plan. No intense workout schedule. No strict diet rules. I simply started removing the habits I knew were holding me back—things like fast food, constant snacking, and screen time after dinner—and replaced them with simple choices that felt more life-giving.
At the time, I wasn’t focused on numbers, just healthy habits. What I didn’t realize was that these tiny, almost accidental shifts were exactly what my body needed to begin healing.
Looking back now, I can see how these habits supported my hormones, jump-started fat loss, and rewired my mindset from the inside out.In this post, I’m sharing five small but powerful habits that transformed my health—long before I understood the science behind them. These aren’t hacks or trends. They’re quiet, simple shifts that made all the difference in my journey.
1. Fasting for Fat Loss
I discovered fasting while looking for a way to lose weight without loose skin postpartum. I found Gin Stephens who lost 80 pounds and had no loose skin (and had two babies)! Intermittent fasting wasn’t as popular when I found this solution, and I figured everyone was going to tell me I had an eating disorder if I told them I was skipping meals.
So I prayed about it and asked God to direct my steps and reveal to me if what I was doing was harmful and I would stop, but until He did I was going to move forward. Little did I know, fasting is all throughout the Bible. And it was about to change my life.
I didn’t know all the science then, but it was appealing to me because I don’t enjoy eating all day long.Now I know fasting helps reset your metabolism, reduce inflammation, balance hormones, and trigger natural healing. It gave my body a chance to recover. And it’s been one of the most powerful tools I’ve used for long-term, sustainable, and predictable weight loss.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of fasting, I wrote an extensive post on this HERE.
2. Eating Carrots for Hormone Balance
I made a couple “rules” for myself for my diet instead of following a super restrictive one. One of those rules was to swap chips for carrots. I didn’t think much of it at the time, I just thought I was making a “healthier choice.”
Years later, I learned that raw carrots help your body detox excess estrogen. This is something I was struggling with postpartum.
Kori Meloy on instagram talks about how all the women who eat the Ray Peat carrot salad get visibly plumper lips. The before and afters would look like they had work done if they didn’t look so natural! Just from detoxing excess estrogen with a carrot salad. Check out the before and after photos on these ladies in this video.
I was eating baby carrots with hummus. But a healthier version would be to do the Ray Peat carrot salad. Here’s the recipe:
1-2 medium organic raw carrots (peel the outer layer), 1Tbsp coconut oil, splash of apple cider vinegar, heavy pinch of salt
Just peel the carrots lengthwise (discarding the outer layer) and mix in the rest of the ingredients.
It turns out that simple little swap was helping rebalance my hormones. I thought I was just avoiding chips.
3. Walking After Dinner to Balance Blood Sugar
My husband and I asked ourselves, why do we just sit and scroll after dinner? So we swapped screen time for a walk.
At the time, I didn’t think walking would do much. I thought you needed intense cardio or weights to burn fat.
But I have since learned that walking, especially after meals, helps regulate blood sugar, supports digestion, and reduces stress. It moves your lymph system and aids detox. It’s low impact and sustainable.
It was also great for family time. My husband and I would chat about our day. I would push my son in a stroller and watch him point out everything he was seeing (animals, kids playing, airplanes, etc.).
That one small shift likely added in my weight loss efforts way more than I realized while also reconnecting me to my family. Strengthening my relationships also likely did more for my health than I realized at the time.
4. Getting Outside for Higher Metabolism
There was something in me that felt better when I was outside. Even if I was just watching my son play—I craved sunlight, fresh air, and stillness.
Only later did I learn how powerful your “light diet” is. How sunlight supports your metabolism, balances your circadian rhythm, and lowers cortisol. Blue light and artificial lighting mess with your hormones and mood.
Now we have people like Andrew Huberman talking about how important going outside is for your overall health. It sets your circadian rhythm so you sleep better. Sleep is essential in aiding in weight loss. Did you know you lose the most weight while you sleep? You breathe it out! Sleep is also when you will get the most detoxing and your body can recover (because you aren’t eating or doing anything else your body would need to be dealing with).
High cortisol will give you “moon face” and cause you to hold onto excess weight. Going outside lowers your cortisol. Going outside literally balances your hormones without you having to do anything except being outside.
The sun’s UVB rays trigger your body to make vitamin D which helps with insulin sensitivity (better blood sugar regulation = better fat burning), thyroid function (your thyroid drives metabolism), hormonal balance (especially for weight-regulating hormones like leptin, ghrelin, estrogen, and testosterone). This is how being outside boosts your metabolism.
Your body is wired to burn more energy during the day and store it at night. Getting sunlight—especially early—tells your body, “It’s time to burn energy.” This raises core temperature (slightly boosting metabolism), improves insulin sensitivity, encourages movement (vs. a sluggish, indoor light–induced fog).
When we stay inside and sedentary all day, our bodies think we are in a state of rest and need to store energy. In other words, our body will not release fat. In my experience, you can actually stay pretty sedentary as long as you are outside. I was just sitting at a table watching my son play. But I spend most of my day outdoors.
I didn’t know all that. I was just following a deeper nudge: go outside. And I knew staying inside all day wasn’t good for me.
5. Memory Journaling for a Mood Boost
When my son turned one, I bought a simple daily planner to record all the sweet things he did or said. It wasn’t a gratitude journal in the traditional sense. It was more like a memory book, a place to keep track of the moments I never wanted to forget.
What I didn’t realize was how powerful this habit would become for my mental and emotional health.
Because once I made it a daily practice, something surprising happened…
I started looking for what I could write down.
As I went through my day, I became more present—more tuned into the joy, the beauty, the tiny moments that would’ve otherwise slipped by unnoticed. Even on the hard days, I was on the lookout for something good. A funny phrase. A peaceful moment. A silly dance in the kitchen.
And that shift? It changed my mindset entirely.
I wasn’t just reflecting on gratitude—I was anticipating it.
I wasn’t just writing about the good—I was looking for it all day long.
This habit helped train my brain to expect goodness, to find joy in the ordinary, and to build emotional resilience. And when I paired it with my quiet morning coffee while fasting, it created this “runner’s high” feeling—like I was starting each day already winning.
Now I know the science behind it. Gratitude changes your brain. It boosts dopamine. It helps regulate your nervous system. It increases happiness and reduces stress.
But at the time? I just wanted to remember the little things.
And somehow, that small desire led to something much bigger: healing from the inside out.
Summary
If you scrolled to the bottom, here’s the gist:
These five habits may seem small, but they were powerful shifts that transformed my health, mindset, and hormones—even before I understood why they worked. They were simple swaps and intentional choices that added up in a big way.
1. Fasting
I stopped eating all day long and gave my body the break it was desperately craving. It became one of the most powerful tools in my healing—helping with weight loss, inflammation, hormone balance, and overall clarity.
2. Eating Carrots
I swapped processed snacks for raw carrots without knowing they help detox excess estrogen—exactly what my body needed postpartum. A simple swap that supported deep hormonal healing.
3. Walking After Dinner
We traded screen time for short neighborhood walks. What felt like a tiny lifestyle shift turned out to support blood sugar, digestion, and stress relief—plus it brought our family closer.
4. Getting Outside
I followed a nudge to be in the sun more, and it changed everything. Sunlight improved my metabolism, lowered my cortisol, and helped regulate sleep and energy—without any extra effort.
5. Memory Journaling
I started writing down little moments I didn’t want to forget, and it rewired my brain. This habit trained me to look for joy all day long, shifting my mindset and supporting emotional healing from the inside out.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire life to see results.
Start by swapping out the habits you know aren’t serving you. Eliminate what feels off. Move toward what feels life-giving. Ask for guidance. And trust that even the smallest steps—especially the ones that feel intuitive—can lead to massive transformation.
These five were mine. What might yours be?
Want to Jumpstart Your Own Health Journey?
If you’re ready to take simple, effective steps toward healing your body download my free FAST Weight Loss Guide: The Exact Blueprint I Used to Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days.
You’ll get a step-by-step breakdown of what helped me shed stubborn weight, reset my habits, and feel like myself again (without extreme dieting or guesswork).
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…”
Matthew 7:7-8
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