9 Reminders for Moving Your Body Through the Holidays
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The holiday season can not only be a tough time for staying on track with our nutrition and for some it can be even more tough to stay on track with our movement. If you’re finding that you don’t seem to have the time or maybe you simply don’t have the motivation to keep moving your body the last few weeks of the year, then this episode is for you. I not only share some hacks to make honoring your body more simple, but I also share some mindset shifts you need to make that will help you keep honoring your body the way it deserves.
What I discussed:
A short workout is better than no workout.
Moving your body will keep you more energized through the holidays.
It’s okay if you are just “maintaining” and not “gaining”.
Commit to moving your body for 30 minutes daily for the rest of the year.
Make not doing it not an option, just do it
Don’t judge your movement.
Do what you can with what you have.
Just because you “ate bad” doesn’t mean you might as well skip your workout, too.
On the flip side, don’t punish yourself with movement because of what you ate.
Link mentioned in this episode:
If you want more from me, be sure to check out:
Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
Transcript:
Hey. Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal 5 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 a real. Let's get it. Let's go.
Hello and welcome back to you. And everyone is episode nine Reminders for Moving Your Body Through the Holiday Season. You're going to want to bookmark this and whether it's today, this is the reminder that you need or maybe in a week or maybe in two weeks. But I know that there will be a time throughout this holiday season that you are struggling with motivation, you're struggling to get your movement in. So, you know, like I said, maybe today you're doing great. You feel like you're on top of it. You feel like you're not giving in to excuses, but, you know, it might get stressful in the next few me, the next few weeks it might get busier. And for those times that you are feeling like you want to kind of take a break from your movement, I hope that this podcast encourages you. So I want to make sure that you bookmark save it in your library so that you have it for that day. I know that the holiday season can not only be hard, especially for nutrition, that's definitely kind of the number one that people struggle with, but also movement, equally movement.
I think that it's easy to make all these excuses, especially that it's getting darker earlier and it's busier and you're just saying, you know, I'll do it tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow. And and then you, you know, you eat the extra thing that you didn't want to eat and then you feel guilty. And then you say, well, screw it and I'm not going to work out. Or You're using your workouts as a way to try to not feel guilty, which I will address in this episode. So be sure to tune in to that. But either way, I know that this episode will encourage you. It will just motivate you and give you some real talk. Before we dove in, I want to share this review comes from Emma Brooke. She gave a five star review and said, truly amazing. When I say that this is the best podcast ever, I absolutely mean it. I'm an OG listener all the way back from 2020 and I have not missed an episode. I listen when I walk, jog, clean, you name it. I'm newly postpartum with my second baby, and when I need to clear my mind, I pull up an episode and go for a brisk walk. It always lifts me up. Julie You are amazing. P.S. After nearly three years of podcast listening, I finally bit the bullet and I joined the weekly workouts inside movement with Julie. I am so grateful that you are here. Thank you for being an OG listener.
It is so crazy to think that we launched this podcast over two years ago now two and a half years ago, right? Actually was right before everything happened in 2020. It was the beginning of the year and I am just so thankful for this community. So thank you for tuning in. I love that you do all of these things while also tuning in to the podcast. I too love cleaning. I also love decorating around the holidays. You know, when you're decorating certain rooms, you're rearranging. I love to purge. I don't know what it is, but whenever I'm decorating, I feel like I get this urge to purge more things kind of clear the way for some decor. And I just love tuning in to podcast, so I am grateful that you are as well. Also so thankful to be doing these workouts alongside of you. If you didn't know, I do every single workout inside with Julie. I do it alongside of you and I'm just so grateful for this community.
Thousands of women every single week showing up, honoring their body and, you know, getting these workouts done. I love that. They're so convenient. They're so, so convenient, especially in the holiday season when it's darker earlier, when you're busy and you just don't have that extra time to drive to the gym, commute to the gym, and really, you know, try to think about the workouts that you're doing and the exercises that you're doing. Instead, you can literally do it in the comfort of your own home, as well as just pull up the workout and just follow along. And you don't have to worry about making it up. You just, you know, there go at your own pace. So it's not, you know, one long workout where you where I'm, you know, guiding you like you see on YouTube. But I personally enjoy that go at your own pace because I don't feel. RASHED But I also am guiding you in terms of giving you sets and reps and there's video demos for every single movement as well as alternate exercises and notes to guide you in each exercise. So, so thankful for that. If you do want to learn more about the movement with Julie app, you can go to Sale. That's Sally Jewell E-Com 50% off your first month as a new subscriber. I would love to work out alongside of you fiber in your workouts every single week. And I just I love that community and I know you will as well. Okay. So let's dove into the nine reminders for moving your body through the holidays.
Number one, remember that a short workout is better than no workout. You know, holidays can be packed with family time and holiday parties, traveling, all of those things. And that can really eat at the time that we usually use to honor a body with movement. And so I just want to remind you that your workout doesn't need to be the normal 45, 55 minutes that you do throughout the year. It's okay if it's a 15 minute workout, if it's even if it's a ten minute workout, use those 15 or 10 minutes to the fullest. I know inside my Julie app we have a few different things that you can do. So if you choose to do a full workout, you can always modify and delete a set. You can, you know, add a circuit. Or remove a circuit. Obviously, if you're in a time crunch, you would likely remove a circuit. But also I have a 30 minute variation workout for every single full workout. So if you're crunched on time, I mean, this is great. And even if you don't have the full 30 minutes, you can literally do one or two of the giant circuits. And that will take you, you know, 12 to 18 minutes. And that is a killer workout. It's a fully program to ensure that you are properly training each muscle group that you should be training for that specific day. And so you can be rest assured that you are getting a killer workout in. I don't want you to make time be an excuse. You can truly move your body from anywhere and there is no minimum required for how long you need to move your body. Just move your body with the time that you have and you will feel so much better than not moving your body at all.
Number two, moving your body will keep you more energized throughout the holidays. This is huge and this is something that I don't think a lot of people really conceptualize when they're in the heat of, you know, feeling just sluggish and not wanting to work out. It's really easy, like I said, to fall off track during the holiday season. Here's the thing. When we get away from our health habits, we don't end up feeling the greatest. We feel lethargic. We lack our our regular vibrancy for life. And this is truly one of the main reasons why I prioritize movement so much is because I operate at a high level. I love the vibrancy and the energy that it gives me for life and just the way that I'm able to show up for other people when I know that I first was able to fill my cup and I was able to sweat and get a good workout in like this is a perfect example today back to back to back to back meetings. And I knew that I had a sliver of time in the morning. I didn't have the normal time that I do for a workout, you know, that I normally do. And I said, okay, I could either sleep in a little bit and get more sleep, which I of course recommend prioritizing sleep. I am a minimum, minimum, minimum seven and a half to eight hour hours a night in terms of sleep, just because I know how important it is to my overall health. But I said I could either get a short workout in or no workout. Well, of course I'm going to pick this short workout because I know that if I want to show up in my meetings with the vibrancy and the energy that I want to and be able to show up as the best version of myself, I need to prioritize myself. And so I went downstairs and I knocked out an 18 minute workout. And when I tell you I was sweating buckets and I felt like a new woman, I felt like when I came back up those stairs and I showered and I, you know, got ready for the day, I was able to go into those meetings and I was able to be my best self. I was able to be my best self with Joshua. The people in my life get the best version of me. And so I just want to remind you of that, and I want you to enjoy the holiday season to the fullest. And truly, my belief is one of the things that you need to do in order to enjoy the holiday season to the fullest is to commit to that 15 or 30 minutes a day so that you will feel so much better. And also, when you do that, when January 1st comes around, you're going to thank yourself for staying in that habit. Right? There is nothing worse than showing up to January 1st and hating where you're at, feeling lethargic, feeling stressed or frustrated that you didn't prioritize yourself. And I'm telling you, I know 10 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. It is. When you consistently show up for yourself and make a habit of it and commit to honoring your body.
Number three remember that the aim during this season should be maintaining. You don't always have to be working towards these massive goals in your workouts. In fact, I personally talk about this all the time, but you shouldn't always live in a weight loss mode. You shouldn't always live in pushing yourself to the limits in your workouts to try and get stronger and stronger and stronger every single week to week, month to month. It's okay to take a break from pushing yourself to get stronger or to be in a caloric deficit, which I typically always recommend. People like, if they come to me mid-November, beginning of December, say, Hey, I want to be, you know, I have body fat loss goals. I'm like, okay, great, let's first get you on the habit so that you can, you know, stick to this habit. And I personally don't find that being in a body fat loss phase during the holidays is actually the most constructive for your time because you're going to constantly be fighting off these things, you're going to be frustrated and then you're going to likely result in quitting, which will lead you back at square one. And so I just tell people, okay, let's use the holidays, let's use this six week window of the year where, you know, things get busier. It's exciting. There's so many things going on where you're just your aim is to maintain, your aim is to maintain in your workouts. So showing up in your workouts, of course, pushing yourself, but not pushing yourself to the absolute limit, you know, that you do in other seasons and maintain where you're at. You don't have to be in a caloric deficit. I would just encourage you to just maintain and this mindset. Really will serve you during the holidays. I really believe that it will help you to not slip back into your old ways and really lose the progress that you've made. Because think about this. If you go into the holidays thinking, okay, I'm going to dominate these body fat loss goals and I'm going to push myself. And I made it stronger and stronger, and that doesn't happen. You're going to be so frustrated and the holiday season is the easiest time for you to justify. I'm just going to start back at January 1st and I'm telling you, I want you to maintain healthy habits and I want you to also enjoy the holidays. And I have just found when I have really just reminded myself as I enter into, you know, these last six weeks saying I'm just going to maintain, I'm going to do what I can with what I have. I'm going to maintain. And it's going to be great. And I'm going to love my workouts. I'm not going to be pushing so, so hard, but I'm going to be so thankful come January that I really went into the holidays with that mindset.
Number four, I have been mentioning this throughout the podcast. It's been woven in, but really committing to moving your body for 30 minutes daily for the rest of this year. I know that might seem a lot to some. It might not seem like a lot to others. Again, I'm speaking broadly, but I truly believe that committing to a minimum of 30 minutes daily and when I say minimum, I don't want you to think like, oh man, I only did 30 minutes. No, if 30 minutes is all that you have. Celebrate the heck out of that. But I think that 30 minutes per day is truly something sustainable. And again, this does not and should not be a workout every day. I actually never recommend that you work out every day. I do always encourage you moving your body in some way, shape or form daily though. So whether this is going to shovel snow or going Christmas shopping or going to clean your house or walk your dog or do some yoga, you know, walk on the treadmill, whatever it is, movement is movement and just go do it right. Like I mentioned earlier, the movement, Julia, I've actually has the 30 minute variation. So if you only have, you know, 15, 20, 30 minutes, you can bang out a killer. And when I say killer, like people, they always go into it in there like I you know, you hype up these 30 minute workouts. And I didn't really think that they would be killer. And then they do them and they're like, oh, dang. So if you okay, if you're just like, No, I don't really think so. I have a challenge for you. If you're not inside the boot with Julia and you kind of want to know like what the 30 minute variation kind of looks like. If you go to my movement with Julie Instagram, so go to the Instagram app, type in movement with Julie. I have a guide section, so not the Reels tab, it's the one after the Reels tab and it's called guides and I have a week of workouts and on that guide I have 30 minute workouts, like it's basically a week of 30 minute workouts. So I have the lower body, the upper body, the cardio and core shoulders and glutes and full body. And in the reels I give you all the movements, what they look like as well as alternate exercises. For example, if you don't have a bench and then I in the caption, give you the exact what you need to do so you can take out, you know, you can screenshot the caption and do it. I guarantee you you will finally understand the hype when it comes to that 30 minute workout. So go do that. But please don't overlook the power of 30 minutes. It can truly do so much for both your mental and physical health.
Number five, make not doing it not an option. Let me say that again. Make not doing it not an option. Just do it. Don't make not honoring your body and option like you are going to move your body for 30 minutes daily no matter what. Again, this is not a workout always. But don't question it. It's just something that you do. It's just something that you go into. It's not something that you postpone until tomorrow. It's something that you do and something that you will do daily. Just do it. No thinking needed. Just do it. It's a part of your day, just like brushing your teeth. You don't wake up in the morning and stare in the mirror questioning whether or not you want to brush your teeth that morning. You just do it right. So let not moving your body not be an option. So just get up and say, okay, even if you have to break it up into 310 minute segments. So whether that's 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes on lunch and 10 minutes at night, you have 10 minutes. I can guarantee you have 10 minutes, even if that's you parking the car in the furthest parking spot so that you can walk longer in the parking lot to this grocery store. Like if you're running errands or if you're going Christmas shopping or whatever it is. I'm telling you that when you don't think it oh, I'm telling you when you just don't make it an option, it will become second nature to you and you will find ways to get more creative.
Number six, on that topic, you have to not judge your movement. And I think that this is this is something that many people struggle with. And this was me, you guys. This was me. For a long time, I thought that I had to always lift weights or I had to go for a jog or I had to be, you know, cycling on a bike in order for it to count as movement. And this was part of the reason why I decided to literally just quit my gym membership and say, I'm going to make. I'm going to try these home workouts and I'm going to make it something that I don't struggle with anymore. Because for years I thought, you know, if I didn't get a workout in at the gym, within inside the gym, the four walls and the roof over the gym's head, I was like, I didn't get a good workout in. And I was over that. I was over that mindset because it really limited me in so many ways. And I felt like I was a slave to the gym. I felt like I couldn't do anything else. I couldn't think outside the box. And so I just want you to not judge your movement, and I want you to remember that moving your body will look different from time to time. And so whether that is walking the dog, whether that's shoveling snow or taking a class or going for a hike, whatever it is, dancing. I have there have been times where I'm like, I haven't moved my body and I will get up and I will dance. I will literally just dance, whether it's in my living room or sometimes I'll dance while I'm cleaning and I'll just like get more movement out of it or I'll dance in between, like folding laundry. Like, just get up, don't judge your movement and you will be so much better off for doing that.
Number seven, do what you can with what you have. This is a motto that I will stand by this. I will die on this hill, you guys. I will literally die in the cell. You got to do what you can with what you have. You don't need all of the perfect equipment if you're traveling. Bodyweight workouts are amazing. If you don't have access to weights, you can always pack resistance bands. You just got to get creative and do what you can with what you have. Your workouts never have to be perfect. In fact, they won't be perfect, so stop using that as a standard. Any type of workout is better than no workout at all. So if you're traveling over the holidays, I actually give you a program that's for free for all active subscribers. It's called Move Your Body Anywhere. It's under the plans tab. If you're in the app, it's under the plans tab and it gives you workouts for an entire month. Honestly, it's a it's a month worth of workouts and they're just bodyweight and resistance bands only. And I use these resistance bands from Amazon. They're amazing. I've used them for years and they're 23 bucks. They come with five different bands and what's awesome is that they're adjustable. So I've talked about this before, but if you've missed this, whether it's been on the podcast or I've done some reels and take talks about this, but I personally love adjustable resistance bands because they are so much more versatile and they really do help you mimic cable movements. So for example, the handles are not attached to the bands, they can be clipped on and clipped off. So that allows you to be able to clip on an ankle strap. So if you want to do like glute kickbacks, you can mimic the cable at the gym using these resistance bands. They also come with a door anchor, which is awesome. So you can anchor it at the bottom, like under the hinge in the middle or at the top. And there's tons of different movements that you can do. So, for example, if you hinge it at the bottom of the very bottom hinge, you could use that for glute kickbacks. You could also use that for bicep curls, you could use that for upright rows. There's so many different things that you can use that if you hinge it at the middle hinge, you could use that for back rows like cable, back rows, cable, squat rows. And then if you hinge it at the top, you could use that for tricep kickback or tricep pull downs and lat pull downs. There's tons of different movements that you can use just with these five resistance bands with the attachments for the handles as well as the ankle strap. And like I said, it all comes in a pack. It's 23 bucks. I will link my Amazon storefront in the description below. I also have it linked on both of my Instagrams. I'm pretty much all my social media. If you go to the Lincoln bio, you'll see my Amazon storefront and then I have workout things that you can click on that section and you'll see the exact resistance bands that I use, but I'm telling you, they are amazing. I also program them inside movement with Julie app. So if you do have access to weights and you, you know, throughout the workouts, I do have like cable movements that are resistance, band movements that are woven. And of course if you don't have access to resistance bands, I always give either bodyweight or a dumbbell alternate, but I love them because I feel like they do mimic many movements that you could do at the gym and you can do them in the comfort of your own home or if you're traveling, they are literally the most versatile thing and they will be so beneficial to your time just to ensure that you are able to get so many movements done in in, you know, in a hotel room or in a room, in your brother in laws or a sister in law's house or mother in law's house, wherever you are traveling this holiday season and I'm telling you, they are such a great investment, 23 bucks. Again, I will link them in the show notes.
Number eight, just because you ate bad does not mean that you should skip your workout to. I think for some logic and this was me. So I do relate to this. Like I know that feeling. When you eat bad you just say like, Oh, well, screw it, you know, I'll just do it. Do it tomorrow, I'll do it next week or, you know, depending on the day. Like if you if you eat quote unquote, bad or you overeat on Friday night, you're just like, screw it, I'll start again on Monday. And I don't want that mentality for you. I don't want you to attach like what, you know, eating bad to. I'm just not going to move my body. I'm telling you, you don't need to move your body out of guilt. And that is something that I'm going to touch on in a second. But please, please do not use movement as a form of punishment because it's not it is a form of celebration. But if you are if you find yourself in that weather, you know, you ate a few extra cookies or you have the sweets or treats or whatever it is, and you feel like you got off track. Just remember that you will feel so much better just moving your body again. Don't judge your movement. So whether you're like, Man, I feel like kind of sluggish. I'm just going to go for a ten minute walk. I'm just going to walk around the block. I'm going to, you know, get on the treadmill. I'm going to just do some walking, like in place in my living room. You will feel so much better when you just get up and move. It changes your psychological state, which can genuinely help you so, so much when you find yourself in that deep, like, regret, that mindset that just is like punishing and you feel so much guilt and shame and all of those things.
And number nine, like I just mentioned, do not punish yourself with movement because of what you ate. I don't want you to spend the holidays punishing yourself for what you ate. There is that is truly no way to spend the holiday season, that holidays are a time of celebration and time with friends and family. And I want you to use movement as a form of celebration. And I've talked about this many times on the podcast about the motto that I have is just like, Man, this is why I am a firm believer in honoring your body. And like, I don't use that word honor lightly. I think that when you say that back to yourself, like honoring my body, that just immediately comes off as like this is a form of gratitude. Like, I am so grateful for all the things that my body can do and it just helps you steer away from attaching any sort of shame or punishment with movement, because that's not what it's intended to do. And I'm telling you that that is no way to move your body when you move your body out of punishment. Like it's not enjoyable. It's not honoring to God, it's not honoring to you, it's not honoring to anybody else. And I believe that it is such a gift. Like every single day I praise God for the basic and advanced utility of movement. And I know that that sounds like so cliche, but it's so true. And when I position movement as a form of celebration, it changes things and it allows me to experience things throughout my movement that I wouldn't otherwise if I were just coming at movement with this form and this mindset of punishment. So I want to encourage you to use movement as a form of celebration this holiday season and really just celebrate the heck out of every single thing that your body is capable of.
Okay, so let me recap those nine reminders that you need to hear for honoring your body through the holiday season. Number one, a short workout is better than no workout. Number two, moving your body will keep you more energized throughout the holidays. Number three, just try to be in maintenance mode. Maintenance mode is honestly the most sustainable throughout this holiday season. Number four Commit to moving your body for 30 minutes daily for the rest of the year. Again, not a workout every single day, but just commit to moving your body for 30 minutes. Number five, make not doing it. Not an option. Just do it. Number six, don't judge your movement. Number seven, do what you can with what you have. Number eight, just because you ate bad doesn't mean you might as well skipper your workout to get up and move your body. And number nine, don't punish yourself with movement because of what you ate. Instead, use movement as a form of celebration. Again, don't forget to grab those resistance bands from Amazon. I'm telling you, they are so amazing. I will put the direct link for the resistance bands in the show notes that you can easily go click that and they're from Amazon again. They're awesome, they're great quality and they typically come if you're a prime member, they typically come within a few days, but they're going to be so useful for you, especially if you're traveling during the holiday season. Also, if you are not already a part of movement. Julie Girl, why not fiber any workouts every single week you get upper body, you get lower body, upper body cardio and core shoulders and glutes and full body. You get five burning workouts every single week, lower body, upper body cardio and core shoulders and glutes and full body. Two options for every single day you pick one depending on your time constraints there go at your own pace. Video demos. For every single movement, I give you alternate exercises, whether it's, you know, if you need an easier one, low impact, no bench option, cable options. Or on the flip side, if I program a cable movement, I will always program a dumbbell or bodyweight exercise. So there's really no excuse. And you can. Truly do these anywhere. All you need is a pair to have dumbbells, a small space, and your phone. That's truly all you need to get a killer workout in so go to sale That's Sally dot mama Julie dot com and get 50% off your first month that sale essay Ali Dharma Julie dot com to get 50% off your first month as a new subscriber, I would love to welcome you in to this community as we close out this year and honor our bodies with movement. That is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much and I'll talk to you in the next time. 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 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 the real because you're worth it.