5 Things You Think You “Shouldn’t” Do When Building the Body You Want (But Should!)
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Have you ever felt guilty for enjoying dessert or worried that snacking might derail your progress? Many of us believe that building the body we want means following a strict list of rules. But what if some of the things you think you should avoid are actually key to your success?
Welcome to a new episode of Embrace Your Real. Today, we’re flipping the script on some common fitness “don’ts” and showing you why you might actually want to embrace them. From savoring your favorite foods to enjoying carbs, we’re breaking down five surprising strategies that can help you build and maintain the body you want. Get ready to challenge the rules you thought you had to follow and discover a more enjoyable, sustainable path to your fitness goals.
What I discuss:
Eat for Pleasure
Order Dessert
Eat Breakfast
Snack during the day
Eat Carbs
If you loved this episode, be sure to tune in to…
Episode 337: What Your Low Calorie Diet is Doing to Your Body
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
Follow me on Instagram: @juliealedbetter | @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
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Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy: https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com/
Website: www.juliealedbetter.com
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] 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 it. Let's go. [00:00:33]
[00:00:31] Hello, and welcome back to another bonus episode. All right. It is time to be real. When bill in body that you want. I know you think it comes with a list of shouldn't aka these restrictive rules that you must follow in order to see the results that you want. And while some of those things are important, what have I told you? Some of those things you shouldn't be doing, you actually should be doing, and those are actually key to your success? Yeah. That's right. Some of the things that you don't think you should be doing are actually the very things that are going to be key in your success. And so that is exactly what I'm going to be sharing with you five things you should think you shouldn't be doing, but in actuality, you should be doing them. But before we dive in, I want to share. This video comes from Gabs 30. She gave a five star review and said, Hi Julie, I found you through Pinterest and let me just say I love this podcast. You are the kind of human being and I appreciate all the information that you share. I'm a lot like you and I've tried what feels like everything. Your podcasts bring me so much joy, especially the latest when talking about protein. [00:01:28][57.4]
[00:01:29] My husband always tells me to cut back on it because I will get bulky. And for a minute I thought that was true. I'm so glad that you explained it from the science perspective. Keep up what you are doing because you are changing so many lives. Bless you and bless your team with much success. Oh I love this so much! First of all, I love that you found me on Pinterest. I love my Pinterest community. You guys are incredible. So thank you for following over there on Pinterest. If you are not already following on Pinterest, it's just Julia Ledbetter and I think that you'll find that helpful. Hopefully I share a bunch of reels and articles and things like that on my Pinterest page, so be sure to check out my Pinterest. And also, thank you so much for tuning into the podcast and leaving a rating and review. It genuinely means the world to me. I love just hearing how the podcast in general is helping you. So thank you, thank you, thank you. All right, let's dive in to the five things you think you shouldn't be doing, but you actually should be doing, and they are likely the keys to success in your fitness journey. The first thing you think you shouldn't be doing when trying to build the body that you want is eating for pleasure. It doesn't matter what size pants you're trying to fit into. If you love to enjoy your food, you should continue to enjoy the food that you're eating. Why? Simply put, food is more than just fuel. Eating for pleasure doesn't mean you're sabotaging your goals. In fact, enjoying your meals can foster this healthier relationship with food, which in the long run is going to help you build and maintain the body that you want. [00:02:55][85.7]
[00:02:55] Oftentimes, having a poor relationship with food just triggers you to do these yo yo diets and have this all or nothing approach, which can hold you back in so many ways on your health and fitness journey. But when you allow yourself to eat for pleasure, you learn that you can eat what you enjoy without feeling the need to overeat all the time on these foods that you enjoy, because you know that you're not going to be able to have them for X amount of time. Like, I want you to foster this relationship with food. And let me repeat that again, eating the foods that you enjoy and overeating the foods that you enjoy. Those are two totally different things. Those are two totally different mindsets. I think oftentimes we get into this overindulgent mindset and that that is trigger that. It stems from you thinking to yourself that you can't have whatever it is that you're eating, and you don't know the next time that you're going to be eating it. And so you're just going to overindulge on it, right? Eating the foods that you love is going to help you enjoy the process of building the body that you want. You can do this all while still properly feeling your body through utilizing the tool marker, counting protein, carbs, and fats. Right? You absolutely can have ice cream every day if you want. You can absolutely have delicious foods every single day in your daily allotment of protein, carbs, and fats. So if you're working towards changing your body, do not believe for one second that it means you have to cut out all of your favorite foods. That is a recipe for disaster and it means that you are dieting, when in reality what we are trying to do, what we are trying to teach you, is to create these lifelong habits for lifelong results, not a quick fix solution for quick results that actually don't last. [00:04:29][93.8]
[00:04:30] The second thing that you think you shouldn't do while trying to build the body that you want, you should do, is order dessert. Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too. Well, so many women think that they can never order dessert. They can never go out to eat and have the dessert, even if we want it so badly. It is just this automatic mindset that I think we've been conditioned to have, and especially on our health and fitness journey. And that is I'm not allowed to have dessert. But where does that belief come from? Here's the thing ordering dessert isn't a crime against your fitness goals. You can eat your dessert and still reach your goals. First off, if it falls within your daily allotment of protein, carbs, and fats, there's no way that it's going to hold you back in that scenario. And second of all, allowing yourself the freedom and flexibility to eat the dang tree and not count it in your macros. That is a part of the journey that is a part of a lifelong sustainable journey. It is not going to hold you back. From reaching your goals. In fact, it's only going to foster a relationship, a healthy relationship with food. So this is why it's so important that you go out and you eat mindfully, and you eat the dessert mindfully. You eat the foods that you love mindfully and know that you can do that from time to time. You can do that. You know, like I said, whether it's ice cream every single night and it's fitting within your daily allotment of protein, carbs and fats. Amazing. If it's, you know, this doesn't fit my macros, but I want to have some bites and I'm going to eat the dang dessert and not feel guilty about it. [00:05:55][85.9]
[00:05:56] That is going to foster a healthy relationship with food and that is what we are wanting. We don't want you to have this all or nothing restrictive mindset. The third thing that you think you shouldn't do while trying to build the body that you want, that you actually should, is eat breakfast. Breakfast has been so demonic like it has been demonized in the fitness industry. And it makes me so angry because I literally love breakfast so much. And breakfast is what gives me energy. And that's the days and the times that I skip out on breakfast. I am just I'm a hangry girl. I am not fun to be around. And if you're someone who just doesn't get hungry in the morning, that is fine. I'm not talking to this crew, but if you are someone who is starving in the morning and you are saying, you know, I'm very hungry, but I know I shouldn't be eating breakfast or I'm trying to intermittent fast or whatever it is that you're telling yourself, that is just a blatant lie and you need to be eating breakfast. Let me get a few things straight here. Eating breakfast will not make you fat. You're not doing anything wrong by eating breakfast. Eating first thing in the morning is not and will not derail your fitness goals. And yes, I had mentioned intermittent fasting. Yes, intermittent fasting can help some women build the body they want. Some women keep that in mind. It is not mandatory in order to see the results that you want. You can see just as good of results from, you know, properly feeling your body through utilizing the tool of macro counting. This balanced approach of protein, carbs and fats within a 24 hour period, as you can from intermittent fasting. [00:07:24][88.4]
[00:07:25] You don't need to do both. You shouldn't do both. In fact, if you have a past relationship with food that is not healthy, intermittent fasting is likely the worst thing that you can do for your mindset and for your body. And here's the most important thing that I need you to know that studies have been done. Kind of comparing macro counting with intermittent fasting. And both have shown to see two have seen similar results for fat loss. So if you love eating breakfast, keep eating breakfast, especially if you are someone who works out in the morning, eating breakfast beforehand or post-workout, this can actually fuel your results. You don't need to skip breakfast or even intermittent fast to see the results that you want. Stop making it so complicated and just eat what you want when you want, as long as you are properly fueling your body again through utilizing the 12 macro, counting protein, carbs, and fats based on where you're at, what your goals are, you're going to see results, plain and simple. The fourth thing that you think you shouldn't be doing while trying to build the body that you want, that you actually should be doing, is snack during the day. Here is the truth. There is nothing wrong with snacking in reality. Mindless snacking that is the real culprit. And this is because mindless snacking leads to an overconsumption, and overconsumption leads to going over your macros. And when you go over your macros regularly, that is what is going to prevent you from seeing results. But here's the key you have to strategically snack. Find snacks that satisfy so that you don't go into 100 snacks every single day, right? Find snacks that are satisfying high protein snacks that help you feel fuller, longer, and that are working for you, not against you, so that you can feel energized and you can also be fueling your body. [00:09:03][98.7]
[00:09:04] You also need to reframe your mindset around snacks and start thinking of them as just smart. Snacking. Like these smart snacks are little boosters throughout the day that help you to reach your macro goals your protein, carbs, and fats. By doing so, these smart snacks. This is going to be providing your body with a steady stream of nutrients to support the muscle growth recovery and ultimately help you build the body that you want. And the fifth thing you think you shouldn't be doing when trying to build the body that you want, that you actually should be doing, is eating carbs. Carbs have gotten such a bad rap, and that's like a real understatement, to be honest. But here's the thing for many, many women, not eating enough carbs is actually what is holding them back from reaching their goals. Here's a quick break down on why. So carbohydrates help keep women and their hormones balanced. And as women are, hormones are extremely sensitive. Depleting and depriving our body of carbohydrates can trigger our hormones to go all out of whack. And when our hormones are all out of whack, our body tends to hold on to fat. Your muscles need carbs to recover and grow, and without carbs, you will struggle to build the body that you want. Carbs are an essential player in the muscle recovery, and if your muscles don't recover, your muscles won't grow. So most importantly, they help to fuel your brain, your kidneys, your heart, your muscles. Your central nervous system. And this is why if you cut out carbs completely. You will start to feel sluggish. You'll start to have brain fog. You'll start to feel like you're dragging. And that's because your body literally doesn't have the most trusted source of energy available to it. [00:10:40][96.0]
[00:10:40] So. But you might be saying, okay, but what's the trick to eating carbs? Well, there's really no trick to eating carbs. Carbs are carbs. In my opinion. They're amazing. They're delicious, I love them. What's critical in order for you to be able to eat the carbs and still build the body that you want, is to be eating them in the proper amount. As long as you are staying within your macronutrient breakdown of protein, carbs, and fats that your body needs based on where you're at and what your goals are, that's different for every single person you are going to see. Results and carbs are going to be able to fuel your results and help you to build the body that you want. So I don't want you to fear carbs. I know for a decade of my life I feared carbs. I cut them and I can tell you I was the most miserable. My body. I was working against my body. My body was like, what the heck? I need X, Y, and Z and you are not providing that to me. And that was because I thought that I needed to do X, Y, and Z to build the body that I want, but then I wasn't building the body they want and I was frustrated. And so if that's where you're at, trust me, I get it. Please hear me when I say these five things that I talked about are so, so important. Let me quickly recap what we talked about. Number one, eating for pleasure. So important, especially when it comes to just building and fostering that healthy relationship with food. Number two, order the dang dessert you can have. You can order the cake. You can eat it too. [00:12:03][82.4]
[00:12:03] You can absolutely have delicious desserts like real desserts, whether it's dark chocolate, whether it's ice cream, whether it's cake, whatever it is, you can have that on a regular basis and still build the body that you want. Number three, eat the breakfast. If now, if if you are not a breakfast person, I'm not talking to you. But the majority of people, they have lied to themselves and told themselves that, that they're not a breakfast person simply because they think breakfast is what's holding them back. And so they're trying to eat fast till 12 p.m., or whatever time you have in your brain to start eating. I'm telling you, eat the dang breakfast. If you love breakfast, you need to be eating that on a regular basis. Number four snack during the day smart snacking I want you to foster a healthy relationship with snacks. I want you to look at snacking as an opportunity to fuel your body, to give your body little boost of energy throughout the day. And last but not least, eat the dang carbs. Eat the dang carbs. They're not the enemy. They will only help you, especially when you are eating carbs in moderation. It is not only again going to help you foster that healthy relationship with food, but it's going to help you fuel your body, your hormones so they can all be functioning optimally. Last but not least, I just want to remind you that building the body that you want doesn't mean adhering to these rigid rules and denying yourself a pleasure. It's about creating a lifestyle that's enjoyable, that's sustainable and balanced. So please eat for pleasure. Ordered the dessert? Enjoy your breakfast, snack smartly and embrace the dang carbs. Your journey towards building the body that you want should be filled with joy and should be filled with satisfaction. [00:13:42][99.2]
[00:13:43] And most importantly, it should be filled with nourishment. If you love this episode, I know you also love episode 337 what your low calorie diet is doing to your body. I will go ahead and link that in the show notes below as well as my Macro Academy. It's simple online academy if you are curious if you're interested. If you're wanting to learn more about how to properly fuel your body, this online academy is for you. So I'll go ahead and link those two things in the show. Notes that you can easily either go tune in to the podcast, or go check out and learn more about my online academy there. But that is all that I have for today's bonus episode. I hope that I gave you some inspiration. I hope that it gave you some encouragement and just remind you that these things, and your journey towards building the body that you want, should be fostering a healthy relationship with yourself and with food. And I want you to embrace these things because these are a part of a sustainable, life long lifestyle. And that's ultimately what I want for you, is to be able to have a lifestyle that you see yourself doing in three years, in five years, in ten years. All right. Capiche? All right. That is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much. I mean it, I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:14:53]
[00:14:53] 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 are 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 Podcasts 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 it real because you're worth it. [00:15:56][0.0]