The Number One Way to Get Back on Track This Fall
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Can you believe it’s already September?! Where has the time gone?! I know this time of year is when we start to realize how far away we’ve gotten from the habits that make us feel our best and we’re ready to “get back on track”. But, I think many of us take the wrong approach for getting back on track. And I think the approach many of us chose to take actually sets us up for failure and pulls us into a toxic cycle that’s extremely hard to break. That’s why in this episode of Embrace Your Real, I want to educate you on a much more effective way that will actually set you up for success and help you stay on track long-term.
If you’re wanting to start implementing new, healthier habits into your lifestyle but not sure exactly what those habits should be or how to actually implement them, I have my Honor Your Body Challenge coming up in October.
Head over to honoryourbodychallenge.com to learn more + join the waitlist!
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 it. Let's go.
Can you believe that it is already September? Where has the time gone? And when I say September, if you're listening to this the day that it came out, this means you are mid September. I know that this time of the year is when we can start to realize how far we've gotten from the habits that make us feel our best and we're ready to get quote, "back on track". But I think many of us take the wrong approach for getting back on track and I think the approach many of us take actually sets us up for failure and pulls us back into that toxic cycle that is extremely hard to break. That's why in this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, I want to educate you on a much more effective way that will actually set you up for success and help you to stay on track long term.
But before I share what this approach looks like, I want to share this super-sweet review. It comes from Goey. She says, "Amazing! Julie, I've been following the Macros Inc on Facebook and someone posted your name in response to an encouraging gal on her post. Well, I looked you up and all I can say is, thank you so much for doing this. I binged on your podcast the last three days and finally finished a bit ago. Wow! What an inspiration you are and your knowledge and how you communicate is such a blessing to all who listen. I'm sure you have a bazillion young followers, but I am 60 years old who can't get enough of you. This has been just what I needed to keep preserving my fitness journey. God bless you. Keep it up. Love, Mari. My grandsons call me Goey. That's where that came from."
Thank you so much. This truly means the world to me and it just reminds me that you are never too young and you are never too old to pursue your dreams. So please don't buy into that lie. I think we can often see people younger than us who are doing all of these things or we see people who are older and say like, "I could never be like that when I'm that age." I'm here to tell you that age is truly just a number and it's all in your mind. You are capable of pursuing your goals at any age you are right now. All it takes is putting one foot in front of the other and truly believing that you can accomplish your goals. But it also does help when you have something like an approach that can help you be more effective, which is exactly what I'm talking about in today's bonus episode.
So what is the secret to setting yourself up for long-term success this fall? Habit stacking. Have you ever heard of it? There are two different ways to look at habit stacking and I want to dive into both of them today. The first way to habit stack is by implementing only one habit at a time. Oftentimes when we get quote, "back on track", we go from zero to a 100. We go from doing nothing productive for our health to trying everything all at once. We say we're going to start over on Monday and when Monday comes, we try to do it all. We last a few days, maybe a week, maybe two weeks, but then we're back on off track again. We get frustrated that we can't stay on and it leads us to feeling hopeless. So here's a solution. Start with one habit and one habit only.
Let's say you want to start counting macros, monitoring your water intake, prioritizing your sleep, moving your body consistently. Instead of implementing all of these habits into your life at once, start with one. So let's say you start by counting your macros, nourishing your body properly, give yourself one, two or three weeks to really feel confident with that habit and then focus on that habit until you feel like it's naturally a part of your daily life. Then you can focus on the next habit, monitoring your water intake. Now for the next one to three weeks, you'll focus on both macro counting and tracking your water intake. Stick with that only until you feel 100% confident. Then you can move on to the next habit, prioritizing sleep. Repeat that and then you can move on to the next habit, honoring your body with movement. Because here's the thing. It's not a race.
The faster that you try to implement all of these habits all at once, the faster you're going to fall out of these habits. If you take your time and make sure they are incorporated into your daily lifestyle, then you will not fall off track so easily because they become something that you do just like brushing your teeth, taking a shower and not something that you have to force yourself to do. The second way that you could look at habit stacking is by stacking a habit that you want to adopt or that you hate doing with a habit that you love or one that is already stuck. James Clear, who's the author of Atomic Habits, if you haven't read that book, highly recommend it. It's phenomenal. This is his habit stacking formula. After, before, or during insert current habit, I will insert new habit.
So here are some examples. Before I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will drink 24 ounces of water. Before I watch my favorite TV show, I will move my body for 30 minutes. While I'm brushing my teeth, I will think about five things that I'm grateful for. You will pour a cup of coffee every day and you will brush your teeth every day. These are things that you do no matter what. That's why it's so effective to stack other habits on top of them because it helps you to actually do it and actually stay consistent with it. So define what habits you want to implement into your life and then try using either habit stacking method number one or habit stacking method number two, or both to see what works best for you. If you are wanting to start implementing a newer healthier habit into your lifestyle, but not sure exactly what those habits should be or how to actually implement them, I want to introduce you and personally invite you to join my Honor Your Body challenge that is coming up this October.
I teach you how to count macros, how to cook nourishing foods, how to move your body effectively and most importantly, how to ditch fad diets and workouts that don't actually work so that you can finally see the results that you deserve. If you are ready to sign up and commit to honoring your body, be sure to head over to honoryourbodychallenge.com to join the waiting list if this is before September 17th when you're listening to this. If it is after September 17th, before October 4th, you can sign up for the fall 2021 Honor Your Body challenge. I will go ahead and link that in the show notes that you can easily go listen. Again, it's honoryourbodychallenge.com. Be sure to join that waiting list so that you'll be the first to know when enrollment opens.
You're not going to want to miss early bird registration, which is September 17th, 18th, and 19th. I have thousands of dollars worth of giveaways just in that weekend alone for those of you who prioritize getting into the challenge early. But if you are tuning in after the 19th of September, before October 4th, feel free to sign up. I would love to have you be a part of this challenge. It's incredible. You can learn more all about it again, honoryourbodychallenge.com. I hope that this episode was helpful for you. I'm excited to see what habits you are planning on implementing this fall. So be sure to screenshot this, post it up on your story, tag me Julia Ledbetter, tag Embrace Your Real account. I want to know what habits you are planning on adopting so that we can cheer each other on. 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're 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 your real because you're worth it.