My 2021 Body Goals
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | STITCHER
Real talk: I have body goals. I have body goals just as much as anyone else, BUT I think my body goals look quite a bit different than the average woman. Let me first tell you what my 2021 body goals ARE NOT…
It is not losing weight.
It is not having a six-pack or a flatter stomach.
It’s not having the MOST defined muscles.
It’s not having a very low body fat percentage.
It’s not having zero cellulite dimples on my body.
It’s not having a“picture-perfect”body.
I know what you’re thinking…if those aren’t my body goals, then what ARE?! In this episode, I'll explain why these aren’t my goals and why they shouldn't be yours either…
Plus, be sure to check out Episode 42: How to Lose Weight Naturally
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 your real. Let's get in and let's go.
Hello, and welcome back to another bonus episode of The Embrace Your Real Podcast real talk. We are talking about body goals, 2021 body goals. I have body goals just as much as anyone else, but I think that my body goals might look quite a bit different than the average woman. And that's why I want to take a moment to share with you today what they exactly are. But first I have to share this super sweet review. It comes from Catherine and she says, "A breath of fresh air. This podcast truly has allowed me to release the feelings that have been weighing down for so long. It has finally allowed me to take a breath of fresh air. This podcast leaves me feeling seen, beautiful, motivated, and understood. I recommend it to all my family and friends and won't stop any time soon." Catherine, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send in this review.
It really does mean the world. If you haven't already rated and reviewed the podcast, all you got to do is scooch over to Apple Podcasts. You can click that rate and review. Be sure you are also subscribed so that you never miss an episode uploaded every Monday and Thursday. I appreciate you so, so much. Let's dive into the bonus episode. Okay. So what are my 2021 body goals? First before I share mine, I want you to think about what your body goals are. If you already don't know, I want to give you a few seconds. I think most of you guys have a good idea of what you want your body to look like in 2021, but first I want to share what my 2021 body goals are not. My 2021 body goals are not about losing weight. My 2021 body goals are not about having a six pack or a flatter stomach. It's not about being the most defined or having the most defined muscles.
It's not about having a very low body fat percentage or zero cellulite dimples on my body or having a picture perfect body. And I know you're probably thinking right now if those aren't my body goals, then what are? Let me explain first why these aren't my goals so that when you really think about what you want your body to look and feel like in 2021, you will have a better understanding of why those are not mine. To be honest, most of those goals that I just talked about are unrealistic and it makes them a waste of time, right? Likely, if one of those are my goals and I managed to accomplish them, I would likely only accomplish them through taking unhealthy measures, which I will never do again. I've been there. I've done that. I actually just posted about this on my Instagram, how it started and how it's going.
If you look at that post, you realize that I started out with very, very lean defined six pack arbs. I was very lean. I was stage ready. I was prepping for a show, which I ended up winning my pro card. Newsflash, even when you win a pro card, life doesn't change. In fact, I only felt less confident because I was thinking to myself, now I'm going to be considered a pro, how do I maintain this body? And I knew it wasn't something I could maintain. I knew it wasn't something that I wanted to live in a prep show mode my entire life. And so for me, it was like this weird perspective shift on, wow, these are all the things that I thought would make me more confident and yet they didn't. It took so much time and all of my energy, everything revolved around training for that show.
My life was 100% in line with training, with nutrition, with every ounce of my being and of my thoughts and everything was related to that July, 2014 show. How can I show up as my leanest self? How can I show up as my best self and present myself to the judges? And I can tell you, it wasn't healthy. And most importantly, it didn't make me happy. And so I, for me, had to reevaluate and say, "Okay, if this is not making me happy and healthy, then what does it look like for me to actually create a lifestyle that makes me feel good?" What are my new goals for my body? And now that this has been almost seven years since Post Show, every year, I think I'm becoming more and more in tune with what's most important for me. So here are what my 2021 body goals are.
Number one, I want to love my body for exactly what it is after I honor my body with movement and I nourish my body with what it needs. So for me, that is honoring my body with at least 30 minutes of movement every single day. Note, that is not a workout every single day, but for me, I tend to do four to five movement with Julie Workouts. So I'm hitting all different muscle groups throughout the week. Strength training, focusing on that and nourishing my body with the food that it needs. So making sure that I'm eating enough protein, enough carbs, enough fats, but also not depriving myself of food that I want to have.
Number two, listening to what my body needs instead of telling my body what it needs. This is easier said than done. But when you can actually be in tune with listening to what is my body saying to me right now and allowing that to be some days that saying, "I need more rest. I need you to literally lay on your bed or lay on the couch for the majority of the day and do nothing." Other days my body is saying, "Push harder. I want to go harder. Come on, let's go. You've got this." So really being in tune with what your body is telling you.
And number three, I want to always, always, always move my body out of celebration of what it can do and not punishment for what I ate or not punishment because I am feeling bad about myself or punishing myself because of what I think I look like. I have recognized more so in the last 24, especially 12 months, how important and beautiful it is that we have the opportunity to move our bodies. And so for that alone, whenever I move my body, I say, "I am so thankful for this."
And some days I truly believe it. And other days I am just telling myself hopefully enough times to where I can get my brain to latch on and say, "Yes, I'm believing this as truth." But I'm telling you, when you have that perspective shift of moving your body out of celebration for everything that it is instead of punishing your body, it will change your life. Now, most people, when they check progress and level of fitness, they do that through weighing themselves. And I know that this can be a trigger for a lot of people. For some, it can just be a form of measurement. And if it is not a trigger for you, that's great. But there are so many different ways to check in with yourself that I wanted to kind of slightly mention. So I have a list of five things that I wanted to share.
Asking myself if I have sustained energy throughout the day. So kind of a measure of progress. Am I having energy throughout the day? Am I feeling strong in and out of my workouts? Am I prioritizing my overall wellness? Wellness in your body, wellness in your mind, wellness spiritually. Am I living a balanced lifestyle? And am I focused on a positive mindset? So asking yourself those things. As you're progressing in your journey, those are great ways to measure how you're doing, great ways to check in with yourself. When I do that, I like to ensure that I'm answering yes to all of those things above. Yes, I have sustained energy throughout the day. Yes, I'm feeling strong in and out of my workouts. Yes, I feel like I'm prioritizing my overall wellness. Yes, I'm living a balanced lifestyle that I believe to be balanced and yes, I'm focusing on a positive mindset.
The only four things that I do are number one, I eat like I love myself. Number two, I move like I love myself. Number three, I speak like I love myself. I speak to myself and I speak to others like I love and I value and I care about myself AK when you're speaking to others, really making sure that you are valuing yourself to create those healthy boundaries in your life that will protect you. And number four, acting like I love myself. That's it. That's honestly all that truly matters. Now I want you to ask yourself, could you imagine what your life would look and feel like if those were your 2021 goals? What would it look like to get to the end of this year if you solely focused on those things? Eating like you loved yourself, moving like you loved yourself, speaking like you loved yourself, acting like you loved yourself.
I know if you love this episode, you will also love episode 42, how to lose weight naturally. In this episode, I have some real talk on why you need to stop focusing on weight loss. Believe it or not, it won't help you lose more weight, it will only create an unhealthy obsession that sucks the joy out of your life. So rather than forcing your body to be a certain way, I explain how to lose weight naturally by switching out of your weight loss mindset into a healthy mindset. So be sure to tune in there. I've linked it in the show notes below. Also, if you just want to go there episode 42, how to lose weight naturally.
I hope that you enjoyed this. I hope that you found something from this that you can take into your own journey this year. If you have somebody in your life, a sister, a friend, a coworker that you feel like would benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this right now on your phone, post it up on your Instagram story. Tag me, Julie Ledbetter, tag Embrace Your Real. Tell us your aha moments. I would love to know what some of your 2021 goals are. I love you so much. Thank you so much for tuning in and I will talk to you guys 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're 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 your real because you're worth it.