Your Badass Journey Guest, Elizabeth Benton

I'm so excited to introduce you to Elizabeth Benton, the founder of Primal Potential and the author of Chasing Cupcakes: How One Broke, Fat Girl Transformed Her Life (and How You Can, Too).

Truly, as the founder of Primal Potential, Elizabeth is like no other. She is someone that talks the talk, walks the walk – and then she shows other people how to find and walk their walk!

So, let’s dive in and get our daily dose of inspiration.

Chasing Cupcakes

Elizabeth Benton spent most of the first 30 years of her life depressed, deeply in debt, and obese.

Elizabeth’s journey began as most of ours do: in utero. But when her mom was pregnant, she was really sick. Elizabeth’s metabolism slowed down to nothing and she was born fat. “It kind of kicked off my shame journey, my unworthiness journey, because I was the token fat kid in an otherwise really thin and healthy family.”

Her whole life, her whole career, came to surround her weight and her unworthiness; she shifted the trajectory of her career and her personal relationships to accommodate her dysfunctional mindset. She was obsessed with trying to lose weight, so much so that she left a scholarship to study nutrition. But then, even after she became a nutrition expert and educator, she was still binging on junk food every time she put gas in her car, and she felt like a fraud and a failure.

“I was so sure that, if I could just figure out my own weight issue, then I would help everybody else figure out theirs. The interesting thing that happened there, though, is that I realized I didn't have a weight issue – I had a worthiness issue and a limiting belief issue.”

And when she finally identified and started tackling the right problem, things did start to change. She lost 150 pounds, paid off $130,000, and remains debt-free as a successful entrepreneur.

How did Elizabeth transform her life?

I ask Elizabeth what truly does help our potential excel, and she has some great mindset tools and tactical advice:

From a mindset perspective, everything is a story. We convince ourselves, we tell ourselves, and we sell ourselves on a particular version of reality. Elizabeth shares the story of getting the end of the day and then saying, "I just don't even care. I just need to check out, get a bottle of wine, and a pint of ice cream." What she is telling herself is true – she would love to have ice cream and wine, sit on the couch, and refresh tomorrow – but that’s not the whole story.

So, Elizabeth started asking herself, “What else is true?” She developed this pattern of asking herself what she wants, what she REALLY wants, and it helped her stop choosing short-term pleasure over long-term happiness.

From a tactical perspective, Elizabeth started journaling every day. This isn’t like a food diary, but a platform for Elizabeth to ask herself more questions: Who do I want to be? How do I want to feel as I go through this day? If I were the best version of me going through this day, what would that look like? She then applies these questions to her professional relationships, her personal relationships, and her relationship with myself.

It “only takes me about two to five minutes, but it is a beautiful tool that helps me win the day I'm in.”

Elizabeth also has a mantra that I want to take a moment to highlight – "I am my own mood maker."

I want everyone reading this to take a moment and say that to themselves, out loud. "I am my own mood maker." The level of control you receive from saying these I-am statements is really powerful because it becomes true to you, and it puts you in a position to decide what mood you want to be in.

CONTEST: Win two free books!

Want a FREE copy of Elizabeth’s book? How about a free copy of Elizabeth’s book AND a free copy of my book? Of course you do, and it’s easy!

All you have to do is:

1. Follow @elizabethbenton and @kareenzwalsh on Instagram

2. Take a screenshot of you listening to this episode of the podcast

3. Make a post and tag both @elizabethbenton and @kareenzwalsh

Then we’ll enter each person into the drawing, pick a name, and send you copies of Chasing Cupcakes and Lead With Value.

But that’s not all – if you already have Elizabeth's book, share a picture of it on Instagram, tag both of us, and tell us your number one takeaway was from the book. Then I will send you a signed copy of my book so that you have another tool to help you find and be the best version of you – because the world is waiting for you to shine!

Resources:

• Primal Potential Podcast: primalpotential.com

• Instagram: instagram.com/elizabethbenton

• Read: Chasing Cupcakes: How One Broke, Fat Girl Transformed Her Life (and How You Can, Too)