7 Reminders I Know You Need to Hear Today
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Today’s episode is going to give you a much needed dose of self love and self compassion. I know when we are on the journey or embracing our real, it’s hard. So if you’re finding yourself feeling down, I think this episode will bring you so comfort and reassurance. I highly recommend taking out a pen and paper and writing down these 7 reminders because I know they aren’t things you need to hear only today, they are things you need to hear every single day.
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 real, let's get it. Let's go.
Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast. Today, I'm giving you seven reminders I know you need to hear because guess what? I need to hear them as well. And we are sisters in this. So take out your pen and paper and write these down because not if, but when you need them, I know that these are going to give you so much comfort and so much reassurance because let's be honest. We all need a dose of self-love and self-compassion. So in this episode, that is exactly what I'm going to do. But first I wanted to share the super sweet review comes from Michael Unbroken. They said fantastic show. I just want to take a moment to say thank you for creating such an impactful podcast. I believe that we all have a voice that needs and deserves to be heard. Thank you for putting this into the world. I appreciate it.
Thank you so much for this review. Honestly, these reviews just really make my day and they really do help the growth of the podcast. So my one ask for you is if this podcast has brought you value, entertainment, education, empowerment in any way, shape or form, if you could leave a review on Apple podcast. If you don't have an Apple device, I know one of your friends or one of your family members do, you can steal their phone. I'm giving you full permission, steal their phone and say, Hey, I need to go to the podcast app. I need to type in Embrace Your Real. You can leave a rating and review, and your review really does help this podcast reach more women in hopes of educating and empowering them to live out their authentic life, embrace their real, and truly live a sustainable lifestyle that they both enjoy and that serves them long term.
Okay, so let's dive into the seven reminders I know you need to hear today. Number one, no one is keeping track of how long it takes you to lose weight. How come when we quote, gain five pounds, we think we need to lose it ASAP? You know what I'm talking about. You go on vacation, you have a weekend bender. You're traveling for work and you gain some weight. It happens. It's life. But why do we think that we need to make sure that that weight is removed as soon as possible? We need to break this mentality. Otherwise, we will continue to revert to quick fixes and yoyo diets that not only ruin our metabolism, but also ruin our relationship with our body, our relationship with food, and actually hinders us from getting back on track with our fitness goals.
Here's some real talk on the weight that you think you need to lose ASAP. You don't need to lose it ASAP. It's not a race and no one actually cares how quickly you lose it. To be completely honest, most likely no one has even noticed the weight that you gained and won't notice when you lose it. So let yourself lose the weight naturally by just going back to honoring your body with movement and nourishing your body with what it needs, that's it, that's all. No quick fixes, no crash diet, and no starving yourself. Take your time and lose it the right way so that you can actually lose it for good. I actually chat about this more in episode 43, how to lose weight naturally. I will go and link that in the show notes below. But that's super important. And this episode is filled with golden nuggets on this topic.
Number two, you need to stop changing 95% of your life only to look 5% better. Be honest with yourself, being miserable, constantly hungry, deprived, exhausted, moody, and constantly punishing your body is not worth looking what you think is 5% better. Let me repeat this. It's not worth it. And you know what else is not worth it? The more we allow our lives to revolver around weight loss, the harder losing weight actually becomes. I bet you felt this way before in your life. You're constantly thinking about the weight you need to lose. And yet it just feels so stubborn and won't go away. Instead, find things that you actually enjoy, that you actually want to do daily. Because when you do that and stop focusing on losing the weight, losing the weight will actually be a byproduct. I can promise you that.
Number three, just because you are struggling does not mean that you are failing. Struggling and failing are not the same. Let me repeat that again. Struggling and failing are not the same. To be 100% real with you, success requires struggle. I guarantee you can ask the most successful people in the world about what it took to get where they are today and 99% of them will say that it took lots of failure and lots of overcoming obstacles because here's the thing. Nothing great is easy. Getting the results that we want that will last will require hard work, will require perseverance, dedication, trial and error, discomfort, and sometimes even pain. So remember when the struggle is real, you're only getting closer to your goals because when you're struggling, you're getting stronger. Let me repeat that again. Struggling and failing are not the same and success requires some struggle.
Number four, if you wouldn't say it to your best friend, then don't say it to yourself. Gosh, if there was one thing I could make every single one of you do is quit the negative self talk because let's be real. Would you ever tell your best friend that she isn't good enough, or that she isn't pretty enough, or that her thighs are too big, or her abs are not showing enough, or her arms are too flabby? I'm assuming and hoping the answer is no. If we would never say those things to somebody else, or if you have a daughter, or a niece, or someone special in your life that's a woman, insert her in there. If you would never say those things to them, why do we think it's okay to say those things to ourselves?
So let's say if you have the thought of I'm not good enough or I'm fat, or I'm not pretty, first of all, ask yourself if this is someone that you would say to insert that most important person in your life, then ask yourself, how would you respond if they were saying that about themselves? Most likely you would shut them down instantly and tell them exactly how freaking amazing they are. So stop doing this to yourself. You deserve to give yourself the same love and the same appreciation that you give to others. The standard that you show to yourself should not be lower. That the standard you have for other people. If anything, it should be higher. Set the standards higher for yourself.
Number five, you will never be happy there if you aren't happy here. I know so many of you think that you'll be happy when you lose the weight, or when you get the promotion, or when you get the boyfriend, or when you get married, when, when, when, when. But here's the thing, you won't automatically feel happier. It doesn't work that way. Our happiness isn't waiting for us anywhere, especially not in the distant future waiting for us. Our happiness doesn't exist anywhere other than where we are right now.
If it doesn't exist now it's not going to exist when. The only when you can add to your happiness is you'll be happy when you realize that your happiness isn't waiting for you anywhere. And you know what? None of us have ever been to our future. So we don't know how that will actually make us feel. That's why we need to let go of our obsession when we think that it will make us happy, because the reality is we don't know. We don't know what's going to bring us real happiness. You have to learn to be happy now, because if you learn to experience happy now, I can guarantee you'll experience happiness in the future because you're bringing that happiness and joy with you.
Number six, just because someone carries it well, doesn't mean it isn't heavy. I know how easy it is to look at people on Instagram or people in your life, or even me and think, whoa, they have it all together. They make it so easy. I need to let you in on a little secret. No one has it all the way together. Nobody. And it isn't easy for anyone. So here's the real thing you need to remember. The way something looks and the way something is, are two completely different things. What you see from the outside isn't always what you're going to see on the inside. We can't make assumptions that everybody's life is perfect. And that yours is the only one that is hard. Some people just make it look easier, but that doesn't mean that it is easier. We can't make assumptions just because someone carries it well, or they're okay to the outside. That doesn't mean that it isn't heavy or that they aren't struggling. Sometimes the people that look like they have it most together are the ones that are struggling the most on the inside.
Just remember that. All this to say, don't compare your journey to somebody else's journey. You don't know the full story behind the tiny part of what you can see. Just do your best to focus on you, focus on your growth, focus on your happiness, focus on your failures because that's important. There's opportunity in failure. And focus on your successes and do it at your own pace. Not comparing it to her, not comparing it to them, doing it at your own pace. It's you versus you.
Number seven, your mental health is more important than wearing a certain pant size. Oh, I wish I could tell my 20 year old self this. Nothing is more important than your mental health. And when I say mental health, I'm talking about your happiness, your stress levels, your anxiety, your confidence, your peace, and most importantly, your sanity. So let me ask you this, is your approach to reaching a certain pant size costing you anything I just listed above?
If your answer is yes, I think it's time to question what you're doing and why you are doing it. Because the truth is whatever satisfaction you think you're going to find from fitting into that certain pant size isn't going to be there when, or if it happens. When you pull on those jeans and you're finally able to button them up, nothing magical is going to happen. Absolutely nothing is going to change inside of you. In fact, buttoning those pants may actually cause you more stress on your mental health because you feel the anxiety and pressure to maintain that size. And you know that it costed your happiness. You know that it costed your stress levels, your anxiety, your confidence, your peace. So please remember that beauty stems from within. I know it's super cliche. I know that it's cheesy, but it's so true. People are going to find you most attractive from the amazing energy, and joy, and love that you are projecting outward from within, not from your pants size.
When you walk into a room, no one is going to say, Hmm, is Susie wearing a size six today? No one is going to think of that. So please remember to always choose your mental health over a stupid pant size. Plus every single pant size changes from company to company, jean to jean, short to short. So don't go by pant sizes, go by how you're feeling. And most importantly prioritize that mental health because mental health is a part of our journey. In fact, if you don't have mental sanity, it doesn't matter what your body looks like, because you will feel dead on the inside. I said this before, but I'll say it again. When I was at my leanest, sure, my physical body was a six pack shell, but I was dead on the inside. Just remember that.
Okay. So let me recap those seven reminders. Number one, no one is keeping track of how long it takes you to lose weight. Number two, you need to stop changing 95% of your life only to look 5% better. Number three, just because you're struggling does not mean that you're failing. Number four, if you wouldn't say it to insert really important person into your life, then don't say it to yourself. Number five, you will never be happy there if you aren't happy here. Number six, just because someone carries it well does not mean that it isn't heavy. And number seven, your mental health is more important than wearing a certain pant size. If you love this episode, I know you will also love episode 101, 3 things to stop doing to live a happier life. And also don't forget to tune in to episode 43 that I mentioned earlier, how to lose weight naturally. I will go ahead and link both of those shows in the notes below so that you can easily go tune in now.
If you have a sister, or a coworker, or a friend that you feel like would really benefit from this episode or this podcast in general, I just ask that you shared out with them. You can send it to them in a text message. You can bring it up next time you have drinks with the girls or you're eating out with them. Just say, Hey, I have a podcast that you have to listen to. You can give them a specific episode to start on or just tell them that they can go to my podcast and they can scroll through and figure out which episode they want to tune into. But I just asked that you shared out with someone special in your life that you feel like would benefit from this episode. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. I hope that this served you. I would love to know. Be sure to screenshot this, post it up on your story, tag me, Julie A Ledbetter. I love connecting with you guys. Thank you again for tuning in and I'll talk to you 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 are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, @juliealedbetter. 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.