How to Handle Life Getting in the Way of Your Fitness Goals
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | STITCHER
When your day takes an unexpected turn and you can’t follow your regular workout and nutrition plan, it can feel like you failed - bring up feelings of guilt. Here are three things you do when you get off track due to circumstances out of your control.
That’s why in this episode of Embrace Your Real, I’m going to chat through 6 ways you can handle life when it gets in the way of your fitness goals.
What I discussed:
Remember it’s what you do consistently, not occasionally that counts
Accept what is out of your control and what’s in your control
Take care of yourself in another way
Do the best you can with what you have
Figure out how this scenario can be avoided in the future.
Stay calm and carry on
Link mentioned in this episode:
Episode 184: What to Do When Things Aren’t Going Your Way
If you want more from me, be sure to check out:
Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
Website: www.juliealedbetter.com
Free eBook: www.juliealedbetter.com/free-ebook
Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-6bda1ca8?ref=cm_sw_em_r_inf_pub_influencer-6bda1ca8_dp_DgsIam9salgfi
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 another bonus episode, How to Handle Life Getting in the Way of Your Fitness Goals. So when your day, your week, your month takes an unexpected turn and you can't follow your regular workout or nutrition plan, it oftentimes will make us feel like we failed. It can bring up many feelings of guilt, frustration. And so that's why I wanted to dedicate an entire bonus episode to kind of chatting through six ways that you can handle life when it gets in the way of your fitness goals. Before we dive in, I wanted to share this review. It comes from carolinaheels. You give a five star review and said, “This podcast has been amazing and exactly what I needed. I've been marathoning the episodes. I've loved every single one of these pair this Move with the Julie app and you will be well on your way to your best self. I've never been more motivated or more consistent. Julie is a breath of fresh air.”
I'm so grateful for you and I'm so thankful that this is not only helping you stay motivated, but consistent. So thank you for leaving a review. That really does mean the world. And also I love that I'm working out alongside of you on a weekly basis. It's so fun. People ask all the time, “Julie, I know that you talk about the weekly workouts, but what workouts do you do?” And I say that is why I created them with Julie app the workouts that I'm programing week to week, the demo only workouts for all of you, thousands of you around the world. Those are the exact same workouts that I'm doing, and that's why it's so fun for me, because I get to work out literally alongside of so many people on a weekly basis. And sometimes I come to find out I'm working out doing the same exact workout at the same exact time as someone who's around the world, and that just never gets old to me. It is so amazing.
So I am so grateful for you, so thankful that this podcast is helping you, that the Movement with Julie app is helping you stay motivated and consistent. That's a number one feedback that I get from the Move with Julie App subscribers is when I have this plan, it's fail proof and it's so true. When you have five brand new workouts that are programed to you, you have a full version or a 30 minute version. It's really fail proof, like you have no excuse. It takes all the excuses out of the equation because you literally just open up your phone and say, okay, what's the workout program for me today? Like, there's no guesswork in it, and you just open up your app, you view the video demos and you get to work and so, so thankful that it's helping you. Thank you for leaving that review.
Let's dive in to how to handle life getting in the way of your fitness goals. So number one, you have to remember that what you do consistently, not occasionally, is what actually counts. Like be one day of being off track, won't throw all of your progress out the window. It's just like one day of working out and eating well will not make you fat, right? If there's a day where that's there's just absolutely no way for you to stick to your plan. You have to remind yourself and celebrate how consistent you've been leading up to that right. Life is going to happen. Things can't always go as planned. So you have to learn to not to beat yourself up. You have to learn to not beat yourself up. This is just part of life, right? Life goes in ebbs and flows. You have to focus on what you have done and not dwell on the one day or the one week that you're missing.
Besides, if you've been super consistent, you could probably use a day off like sometimes the most unexpected rest days. I'm like, you know, initially I'm like, resisting, and I'm like, I don't need a rest day. I don't need a rest day and that ends up being amazing. I'm like, Yes, because then I go into my workout the next day and I have so much energy, I'm ready to crush it and I'm so thankful that I had that time off, even though it was unexpected.
Number two, except what is out of your control and also focus on what is in your control, right? Feeling guilty over the things you can't control really doesn't help you in any way. Spending your day focusing on how you got off track or how you're not going to have the time to do what you wanted to do isn't going to help the situation. If you can't make it to the gym or your workout, accept it and move on. If you can't follow your nutritional program that you have been following, whether that's counting your macronutrients or hitting your protein goal or your daily water intake, accept it and move on.
Dwelling on it isn't going to change the fact that it's outside of our control. All it's going to do is waste our energy and prevent us from living presently. So for every one thing that you identify that you can't control, I want you to ask yourself, “What can I control?” And oftentimes what is in your control is how you react to what is out of your control. So ask yourself, okay, even though this is out of my control, I still have the control to react. And how am I going to choose to control that in a positive way? How am I going to react to this, even though I want to be frustrated, even though I want to dwell on it? How can I flip this script and how can I react in a way that is beneficial to the situation which oftentimes is accepting it and saying, “You know what? It is, what it is, I'm going to do the best with what I have to give and let that be enough.”
Number three, take care of yourself in another way. So let's say, for example, you can't make it to the gym. You can't squeeze in an in-home dumbbell workout. Instead of dwelling on the fact that you're skipping your workout, you're so frustrated. I can't believe this is happening. I'm going to lose so much progress. That whole narrative in our head put that extra energy into making sure that your nutritional choices are dialed in that day, or vice versa. Let's say, for example, you fell off track of your nutrition. That's okay. Try to really put an emphasis on honoring your body with movement for at least 30 minutes. This is not a punishment for what you did nutritional wise. This is just out of celebration and respecting your body in some way, shape or form.
Let's say that you completely fell off track with both your nutrition and your fitness. That's okay. Maybe you didn't honor your body in that way, whether that's through movement or through your nutrition. But there's other ways to honor your body. There's other ways to take care of yourself. So taking a hot bath, really giving yourself a few minutes to just decompress. This could be doing breath work. This could be doing reading your Bible or a book or journaling or whatever it is. A journal session helps so much, and I'm telling you that some of the biggest breakthroughs that I've had are not have nothing to do with my physical body. They have to do with my mindset. And so if there's one thing that I can tell you to really focus on, on those days and on those weeks that you feel like your nutrition is just crap, your workouts and you're honoring your body with movement is just not happening. Really. Try to use those as an opportunity to refine your mindset, to ask yourself, Okay, what are the things that I'm allowing myself to believe? Journaling. I love reading God's word. I love listening to a good podcast. I love doing Breathwork. All of those things are really going to help ensure that you're honoring your mind, and that's a huge part of just in general. I always talk about honoring your body.
Honoring your mind is a huge part of really being intentional with mindset work. So if you completely fall off track with fitness and nutrition, you still have your mindset, you still have really checking in with your heart. And so I want to encourage you to press into that and pour your time and energy into that instead of dwelling on what you can't do that day or that week.
Number four, do the best you can with what you have. I talk about this all the time. It's really genuinely it's like a trademark saying of mine. I always say, “Do the best you can with what you have. Do the best you can with what you have.” Because it's so true. Sometimes when we can't get our regular 45 minute workout in, we think we just can't work out or we fall off track for one meal then we just toss in the towel for the rest of the day. We break into this all or nothing mentality and it's time that we break up with that.
Just because we can't do things perfectly doesn't mean that we shouldn't do them at all. Instead, we need to do the best that we can with what we have. You only have 10 minutes. Amazing. Do what you can with what you have. It's better to move your body than not at all. If you need to stop at a gas station for a snack because you forgot your lunch that you prepared at work, do it. Do what you can with what you have. It doesn't mean that you have to throw in the towel and buy whatever the heck you want and that, you know, food that's not going to make you feel good. Try to find a protein bar, try to find some beef jerky, try to find something that's going to honor and nourish your body. Right? These situations that you find yourself aren't always ideal, but you have to learn to adapt to the situation and do the best you can with the current circumstance that you find yourself in.
Number five Figure out how this scenario can be avoided in the future. So instead of beating yourself up about getting off track that day, identify where things went wrong. Why did they go wrong? How can you avoid them from going wrong in the future? And plus, figure out what your plan B is next time you're not able to avoid it in the future. Like if this happens, then I will do this. Or if that happens, then I will do that. Having a plan for life getting in the way is honestly the best way to not let life get in the way. Because let's be real, things will always try to get in your way. So what can you do? What's the next best thing that you can do is be prepared. It's not always going to be perfect.
You might have a plan B that you thought would work perfectly, and then you actually find yourself in the situation where you need to implement and you're like, Dang, that's not how I expected it to go. That's okay. But being more prepared is always better than being less prepared. You never walk away from a situation saying, Dang, I wish that I was less prepared in that situation. No, you always walk away saying I'm grateful that I had X, Y and Z in my tool belt because that at least helped me manage my mood. Or that at least helped me to look at the situation in a little bit different light than I used to be able to. Right? So I always want to encourage you to rear on the end of being more prepared than less prepared.
And number six, stay calm and carry on. At the end of the day, all you can do is your best. If you try to find a plan B, you try to do the best you can with. You have, you try to nourish your body in other ways. You tried to do everything you still could, even though you didn't stay on track with certain things. It's okay. Let it be. It was one day. It was one week. You have tomorrow. You have next week. It's okay. Do not waste your energy focusing on how you failed and instead just carry on with your life. One day, one week of getting off track is not going to mess up your results. It will be okay. You will be okay. Life goes on, so stay calm and carry on.
So there you have it. Those are my six ways for handling life. When it gets in the way of your fitness goals, let me quickly recap that. Number one. Remember, it's what you do consistently, not occasionally, that counts. Number two, accept what is out of your control and also what is in your control, which oftentimes is how you react to the situation. Number three, take care of yourself in another way. Number four, do the best you can with what you have. Number five, figure out how this scenario can be avoided in the future. And number six, stay calm and carry on.
If you love this episode, I know you will also love episode 184 What to Do When Things Aren't Going Your Way. I will be sure to link that in the show notes that you can easily go listen, I hope that you found this episode beneficial. I hope that you found it helpful. If you did, I would love to hear about it. You can screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. Be sure to tag me so that I can see you and I can celebrate you and I can connect with you. If you have a girlfriend or someone in your life that you feel like is would really benefit from this episode and you're like, Dang, they're just going through a rough time. Or We were just talking about this topic. I just ask that you send this out to them. You can copy the link and send it to them in a text message. Or you could kill two birds with one stone and you can post this up on your Instagram story, talk about the episode, and also tag some of your girlfriends to tune in to this episode.
Everyone now has the link feature, so you can actually link this direct episode on to your Instagram story. And that would help tremendously spread the word. And I appreciate every single one of you guys who do that on a weekly basis. I see you. I appreciate you, and I'm so grateful for you. That is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so, so much, 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, @julieledabetter. Yes, it’s with an “a” in the middle for that daily posts about 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 real because you're worth it.