3 Ways I Get Myself Motivated to Move Over the Holidays
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I don’t know about you, but around the holiday season, my motivation to work out goes out the window! Ya feel me?! Either I feel too cozy, or I have too many family gatherings, or that “I’ll get serious next year” mentality starts to slip in. But sister, we’ve been working way too hard to let our goals and results slip away during the holidays. So how do we get the motivation to stay on track? In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I share the three mindset shifts I use for finding the motivation to get my body moving!
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Real. Let's get and let's go.
I don't know about you, but around the holiday season or let's be frank, anytime after November 1st, I feel like my motivation to work out goes out the window. And this is me being completely raw and real with you. Either I feel too cozy or I feel like I have too much to do, or I just tell myself, "I'll start again in the new year." I am here to tell you that we have been working too hard to stop now. And remember when I'm speaking right now, I'm speaking to myself just as much as I'm speaking into your ears. In today's episode, I want to share the three mindset tips that I use for finding the motivation to get my body moving around the holidays.
Before I dive in, I have to share this super sweet review. It comes from Lois Davis. It says, "Such an inspiration. I love this podcast. I started my health and fitness journey about nine months ago and Julie has been so influential in that process. I've struggled with body image my whole life, but Julie has taught me to embrace who I am and focus on honoring and nourishing my body instead of trying to conform to what society says is the perfect body. I'm so thankful for her in helping shift my mindset from punishing to honoring it. I cannot recommend this podcast and her weekly workouts enough."
Thank you so much for the review. If this podcast has helped you in any way, if you feel like you've gotten something from it, if you feel like it's lifted you up, if you feel like it's taught you something, I just ask for a rate and review. It really does help us out in the podcast world. All you got to do is scooch over to Apple Podcast, press pause, scroll all the way down and you'll see the rate and review. It takes less than 30 seconds and it really, really does help us out in the podcast world.
All right, so let's dive in. Mindset shift number one, I remind myself in the moment that I just need to do 30 minutes. Literally on the days that I feel super not motivated or I just feel like I want to stay in my cozies all day, I remind myself, I'm just going to do it for 30 minutes. Remember that we have 1,440 minutes in every single day. 30 minutes out of that only needs to be spent moving your body. That's an equivalent to 2% of my entire day. Instead of telling yourself, "Oh my gosh, it's going to take so much work to do it." Remind yourself that 2% out of your day is nothing. You have 98% left. Yes, you're going to be spent sometimes sleeping but the fact of the matter is, moving body is going to help you in so many other ways than just physical. I know for me on the days that I feel like I cannot withstand anything, 2% of my day, that puts everything into perspective and it doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
Mindset shift number two, I tell myself, "Just do the bare minimum." Sometimes I play a trick where I tell myself, "I can take it easy in my workout or I'll skip some of the exercises that have planned." And you know what the cool thing is? It gets me moving. Typically once I start, my body takes over and I want more because I talked about this on my Instagram story the other day, moving your body is so much more than just moving your body physically. I truly believe that moving your body is healing your mind. Moving your body is healing your soul. Moving your body is healing you. And so as you start moving and sweating and those endorphins start going, you feel like I can crush anything. And I don't know about you, but that's the happy hormones that you get and that chemicals that are released from that workout, from you sweating, it makes you feel like you're on top of the world.
Sometimes I just play that trick and I tell myself, "I'm just going to do the bare minimum. And guess what? Sometimes I do just do the bare minimum and I'm proud of myself. Again, one thing that I shared the other day is, don't judge your movement. Whatever your movement is that day, if that's what you could do that day, be okay with it, celebrate it and move on and know that tomorrow's a new day, but there are going to be some times that you're going to tell yourself, "I'm just going to do the bare minimum." And then you get into the groove of it and you start crushing it. Let it be. Continue to keep doing it because honoring your body each day is going to look different. And I know for me, when I move my body, I feel so much better. Whether it's the bare minimum or it's one of the most killer workouts I've done in a long time.
Mindset shift number three, I think about how much better I will feel after my workout. Whenever I think about a 30 minute workout, if it seems like it's going to take way too much energy, I always try to remind myself that it's not going to be anything compared to how I will feel after I move my body. When I compare those two feelings, it always motivates me to get up and move because moving my body creates more energy and it sounds counterintuitive, but it's not. It's a beautiful thing that movement is there for us and movement actually creates so many emotions and it helps create so much more energy.
When you are in that mindset and you're like, I don't want to do this. I feel like it's too stressful. Remind yourself of the perspective, 2% of your day, tell yourself to just do the bare minimum and visualize yourself on how much more energy you're going to feel once you get done with that workout.
I have one last bonus tip for you to always have a plan. It's so important that you have a plan. Sometimes just the thought of the heck are you going to do for your workout? Can be tiring and demotivating in and of itself and that's what is allowing you to skip it. Having a plan to follow is so much easier than trying to just squeeze in a workout or waste so much time on trying to come up with a workout. Because if that's the case, if you don't have a plan, yes, moving your body, coming up with a workout, figuring out what you're going to do that is going to take more than just 2% of your day. Value your time, value what you are best at and invest yourself in a plan. If you need a plan to follow, I do have a workout app.
I tell you this because I believe in it myself. The reason that I created this app was because I wanted to have a plan and I knew for me to be the best business owner, to be the best wife, to be the best sister and aunt and the various roles that I play in my life, I need to have consistent movement. And in order for me to have consistent movement, I needed to follow a plan, which is why I created this app so that I could follow it myself and I wanted to invite other people along side of me.
There's five brand new workouts every single week. If you follow me on Instagram, you know these are the exact workouts that I do. It's not like I'm planning something and I'm doing something totally different. I'm doing these workouts with you, which is the most fun part about it. Knowing that it's a community of women that are all coming alongside of each other, motivating each other. Especially through the holiday season, to know that I have sisters around the country and around the world who are all doing similar workouts, whether it's the 30 minute variation or the full workouts, which there's both variations inside the workout app. It's 20 bucks a month but right now I do have a $10 promo going on. Click the link in the show notes, or click the link in my Instagram bio and it will take you directly there. The promo code will be there for you.
I am so excited to dominate the holiday season alongside of you. I'm so excited for you to get your plan and stay on track with me so the next time that you don't feel motivated to work out, tell yourself you only need to do 30 minutes of movement and it's absolutely okay for you to do bare minimum and remind yourself of how much better you will feel afterwards. And lastly, turn your brain off and follow a plan. I know it sounds super simple, but I promise it is very effective. It never fails to get me to move my body and I know that I will be revisiting this podcast episode throughout the holiday season as we're in the middle of it and on those days that it's just snowy and cozy, I got to turn this on and remind myself of this.
If you love this episode, I know you will also love episode 24, Seven Ways to Get Back on Track. I've linked that in the show notes so that you can easily go download and listen to it now. Thank you so much for tuning in. I would love to hear your aha moments. I would love for you to send this out in a text message or post it up on your story and tag some girlfriends that you feel like this episode would really help as we all head into the holiday season together. Remember, you have gone too far, my girl, to just say, "I'll start next year." Mm-mm (negative), I want you to feel your best this holiday season so let's do it together. I love you so much. Thank you so much for tuning in and I will talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the 'gram, be sure to do so, Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcast to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface so go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.