It’s Time to Trim the Fat from Your Life!

Photo by Megan Oswalt

By: Lana Perry

The phrase “trim the fat” is one of my favorites. It refers to getting rid of things that simply don’t belong in your life. In the same way excess fat weighs down your body and burdens its functionality, the fatty elements in your life do the same thing.

In this article, you will learn how to trim the fat and get back to a lighter, happier, more efficient version of yourself.

Step 1: Identify the fat

It can be hard to pinpoint the “fat” you need to trim. Many people live in denial of the areas of their lives that really don’t belong. Here are some examples:

People – People who drain you emotionally, have a negative outlook on life…or on your life, who are too needy, or who maintain bad habits that don’t reflect your own values.  These types of people pop up as coworkers, family members, lovers and friends. They can be so close, you can’t imagine life without them.

Activities – A job, activity or hobby that is no longer serving you with regards to satisfaction, financial needs, stress, or lacks stimulation and challenge. Other examples include your social life, love life, volunteer activities, club memberships, classes, etc.

Habits – A habit or way of being that does not contribute to your well-being or success. This could mean waking up late and missing your workouts, watching TV instead of working on a side project, drinking excessively and botching your weight loss efforts, being passive in the workplace and missing out on promotions and opportunities.

Step 2: Trim the fat

People – Once you’ve let someone into your bubble, it can be hard to trim that person from your life. The passive-aggressive way to handle this is to simply distance yourself from them, and many people will get the hint or assume you are naturally drifting apart. The more assertive way to deal (or the way you’ll be forced to deal if they notice you’ve drifted and ask you about it) is confrontation. Sound like fun? It’s totally not, but the outcome of all that weight lifted from not having to interact with someone who is weighing you down feels fabulous, so it’s worth the awkward convo.

Activities –Either stop doing the activity or figure out how to change the terms. Create boundaries or ask for more pay. If your social life is the problem, start cutting back. Stop doing things out of obligation and start doing things because you actually want to and because the activity enhances who you are. Just because you’ve been participating in something for years doesn’t mean it’s who you are or what you want today.

Habits – Bad habits are easy to form, but hard to break! If you are doing things that don’t enhance who you are as a person, or things that negatively affect your health…trim! This is some of the most important fat to cut out of your life because tiny changes make BIG impacts. Once you’ve identified all the habits and ways of being that no longer serve you, it’s all about practicing the new habits until they set in. Give yourself a good 21 days of consistent practice until the new habit until it actually sinks in and starts to feel effortless, that’s how long it takes for a new habit to form.

Trimming the fat isn’t always easy, but it’s essential if being the best YOU is a priority. Looking back on all the fat I’ve trimmed at different points in my life…it was not always easy, but well worth it. Declare it’s fat trimming time and make it your active mission to start making changes. Soon you will have a more healthy, energetic, happy life minus lots of fat (and if you have real fat to lose, that often falls off along with all the changes)!

If you’re ready to trim the fat from your life, contact me at lanaelizabeth@gmail.com and we can create more structure and accountability around your upgrade.