Mind Over Muscle: Shutting Down Negative Self-Talk to Achieve Real Progress
What if your biggest barrier to progress wasn’t physical but mental? Think about it—if your mind is telling you that you can’t push further or won’t improve, you may start believing it. Your body responds to your thoughts, and this can be the real reason why you’re stopping early, skipping reps, or shying away from challenging exercises.
In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I'm diving into why negative self-talk can sabotage your fitness journey and how to tackle it head-on. The mind is just as important as the muscles when it comes to reaching your goals. If we constantly reinforce self-doubt, we hold ourselves back. But imagine what can happen when we reframe those thoughts.
We’re breaking down actionable steps to silence that inner critic, from recognizing negative thoughts in the moment to replacing them with positive affirmations.
I also discuss:
(02:55) - How to recognize negative self-talk + when it's happening
(04:18) Focusing on progress and not being perfect
(05:52) Creating your mantras
and more!
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] 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. Do I better? 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. Let's be real. We have all been there. You're like in the middle of a workout and suddenly you have this little voice in your head that whispers, I can't do this or I'll never get where I want to be. Or Why do I look so fat? Or why aren't you better? Or why aren't you stronger? It's so frustrating and honestly can mess with your motivation. But here's the thing negative self-talk during workouts that can hold you back from reaching your fitness goals and building the body that you want. We need to have tools to help us overcome these thoughts so that we can thrive in our workouts. And so that's why in today's bonus episode, I'm going to be diving in how you can shut that voice down and replace it with something that will actually be beneficial and actually help you. But before we dive in, I want to share this reveal comes from Tory Baths 0512. She gave a five star review and said, My go to podcast above allows Julie's a breath of fresh air. Her energy, self-compassion and love for life is incredibly refreshing. And every episode, Julie empowers me to challenge my negative thoughts and take on life in a new way in my worst times as podcast has made me smile and laugh or just see a glimpse of hope for myself, my relationships and my life as a whole. I also love that she references previous podcast episodes that relate to the current one. It helps me navigate her episodes in a fluid and helpful way. I am so grateful that this podcast is helping you and that you find it beneficial and helpful. I appreciate every single one of your guys's reviews, so if you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and liberating Interview, that would mean the world to me and our team. So first things first. Let's make it super clear why negative self-talk can and will hold you back when you are constantly telling yourself that you can't do something or that you're not good enough. Your body actually starts to believe it. Yes, our bodies actually start to believe what our mind is thinking. You might cut your workout short. You might skip those extra reps or avoid challenging exercises because you think that you can't handle them. And over time, this adds up and slows your progress. Negative self-talk can drain your energy and make you feel less motivated to push yourself. It's also super important to remember that building the body that you want is as much about your mindset as it is the physical work that you're putting in. If your mind is not on board, it's going to be so much harder to stay consistent and committed to your goals. And so that's why in today's episode I want to talk about how to flip the script and give you some actionable tips for dealing with and overcoming those pesky negative self-talk during your workouts. Number one, you've got to recognize it, plain and simple. You have to recognize what you're thinking. The first step to dealing with negative self-talk is being able to recognize in the moment when it's happening. I want you to pay attention to those thoughts that pop up during your workout. Are they encouraging or are they tearing you down? Once you really start noticing these thoughts, remember that it's so much easier to catch them in the moment. So let's say you're struggling with a tough exercise in your workout and you think, I can't do this. I need you to stop right there and acknowledge that that is just a thought. That is not fact. It's just the thought. Once you've recognized it, you can then start working on changing it. But if you don't put a finger on it, it's going to be so much more difficult to change in the moment what you are thinking. Number two, I need you to replace it with a positive affirmation. I know this sounds super cheesy and fluffy and like it's not going to work, but hear me out. After recognizing the negative thought, immediately tried to replace it with something positive. It doesn't have to be this over-the-top affirmation, but just something that gives you a boost and keeps you going. If I can't do this pops up. Try telling yourself I am stronger than I think or I'm doing my best and that's enough. Even something as simple as I've got this. That can shift your mindset and give you the motivation to push through. And the more you start practicing replacing those negative thoughts with positive affirmations, the more natural and fluid it will become. Number three, Focus on progress, not perfection. Negative self-talk often happens when we are so fixated on trying to be perfect. Maybe you're frustrated that you can't lift as heavy as you want or that you previously did, or that your stamina isn't where you'd like it to be. Instead of focusing on what you can't do, I need you to celebrate what you are doing. Let me say that again. Instead of focusing on what you can't do, I need you to celebrate what you are doing. Progress is everything, and even the smallest improvements count. Maybe you added a couple of pounds to your lift or you ran an extra minute. These wins are worth celebrating because they're getting you closer to your goal. Focus on how far you've come rather than beating yourself up for not being there yet. And if it's a day where you just can't lift as heavy as you did, focus on the fact that you showed up, that you're being consistent at the end of the day. Consistency is better than perfection. Number four, Break the workout down. When the negative voices get loud, it can make the workout feel so overwhelming. And one way to combat this is to break your workout into smaller, more manageable chunks instead of. Focusing on getting through the whole session. Take it One exercise, one set, or even one rep at a time. Tell yourself I'll just do this one set and then I'll reassess. And once you're done with that one set, tell yourself I'll just do the next set and then reassess. This makes the workout feel a lot less intimidating and gives you little wins along the way, which can help to quiet the negative thoughts, especially when you're looking at your whole session and you're just feeling super overwhelmed. Number five create a mantra. Having kind of a go to mantra can be super helpful when you are struggling with negative self-talk during a workout. It can be something like, I'm strong or I'm capable or I will keep going. When you start feeling that doubt to creep in. Repeat whatever it is that you decided to tell yourself. This is going to help you drown out the negative thoughts and keep your mind focused on what you can do rather than what you can't. The key is to find something that really resonates with you personally, something that feels and makes you feel empowered so that when you are in that moment of distress or frustrated or stressed or discouraged, you will just remember you'll say, you know those few words like, I am capable or I will keep going or I'm stronger than I think. Those are little pep talks that will help you to stay in the moment so that you can get through that set, you can get through that movement, you can get through each rep and feel encouraged at the end. Number six, you have to visualize your goal. So when you're in the middle of a tough workout and negative thoughts start to roll in. Take a moment to visualize your goal. Picture the body that you want to build. How do you want to feel? Why are you doing this? Visualizing your end goal. This can help you shift your focus away from the immediate discomfort on to the bigger picture. And this mental shift. This can give you the push that you need to keep going even when it feels tough. Remember that every rep, every set, every workout is getting you closer to that vision. And last but not least, number seven track your progress. It's super easy to get caught up in what you think that you're not doing or what you are doing, but it's just not good enough. But when you have tangible evidence of your progress, it's so much harder for those negative thoughts to take over. Keeping track of your workouts, whether it's through a fitness app or just a simple notebook or your notes app on your phone. Write down what you're lifting, how far you're running, how many reps you're doing. When that negative voice says you're not improving, you can look back and see exactly how far you've come. Seeing your progress in black and white is a great way to combat self-doubt. Here's the deal. Negative Self-Talk. This can seriously slow down your progress, like I mentioned, because if you're constantly telling yourself that you're not strong enough, you're not fit enough, you're not capable enough. You're more likely to hold yourself back rather than pushing your limits. You might skip challenging exercises, like I mentioned, you might cut the workout short like I mentioned, or avoid trying new things altogether just simply because the Dow is so heavy and so big in your mind. But I truly believe that when you can flip that script and focus on what you can do, you'll be amazed at how much further you'll go. You will believe in yourself, even on a small scale. And when you start to trust that you can and will believe in yourself, you'll be able to see yourself day after day pushing towards your goals. Remember that progress is not linear. You're going to have days where you feel like you're taking two steps forward and three steps back. That is okay. You've got this. Remember that you are in control of your thoughts and your thoughts matter so, so much in terms of this physical. Yes, it's a physical transformation, but it is as much, if not more, a mental transformation when you are staying consistent in your workouts. I actually have a podcast episode that talks all about how to monitor your progress without the scale, because I know sometimes we let the scale dictate so many emotions in our mind. So, you know, when I say like, track your progress. Some of you guys think tracking your workouts and that is absolutely one of the best ways that you can track your progress in terms of your fitness routine. But then other times you think track your progress, you think, okay, I'm going to weigh myself. And then we get into this mindset where we want to wear our selves on a daily basis or on a weekly basis. And that can be discouraging because if you are changing your body composition, oftentimes the scale does not change or the scale goes up. But your body measurements are going down. Your clothes are fading better, you're feeling overall stronger. You're feeling like you have more energy. And so I want you to check out episode 256 if you haven't already, or maybe you haven't tuned into it in a while. I think that you'll find it very beneficial. It's five ways to monitor your progress without the scale. And then also, if you want more tips on combating the negative self-talk, I do have a more recent episode Episode 426 The Real Way to Break the Cycle of Negative Self-Talk. So I will go ahead and link both of those in the show notes below. But please, please, please know that it is possible for you to break this cycle. It is possible for you to not be negative to yourself during your workouts. And in fact, when you can break that cycle and when you do break that cycle and you start speaking yourself more lovingly and you start encouraging yourself, you will see how much faster your progress goes simply because you are becoming your best cheerleader. And that is one of the most important things that you can do on this journey is become your biggest cheerleader and recognize in the moment when you are sabotaging your results simply because of this negative self-talk. So I hope that this was helpful. I hope that this encouraged you in some way, shape or form. If you have a friend or a coworker or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode or this podcast in general, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can always screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story, but that is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much. I mean it and I'll talk to you 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, Julie. A lot better. Yes. It's women 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 real because you're worth it.