3 Questions to Ask Yourself If You Don’t Have the Body You Want
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Are you unhappy with the way your body looks? Do you constantly feel self-conscious? Have you been wishing your body to be something other than what it is for as long as you can remember? Do you feel envious of other people’s bodies and wish your body looked the same way?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, this episode is for you.
In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I’m going to challenge you with more questions to help bring to light why you can’t seem to build the body you want. By the end, I know you will have hope, motivation, and clarity on what you need to do to finally reach your body goals.
Links mentioned:Movement With Julie Workout App: sale.movementwithjulie.com
Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy: www.macrocountingmadesimple.com
TRANSCRIPT:
... 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 reel, let's get in, let's go.
Are you unhappy with the way that your body looks or do you constantly feel self-conscious or kind of wishing that your body was something other than what it is for as long as you can remember? Or maybe you're envious of other people's bodies, or you wish that your body looked the same way? If you answered yes to any of these questions, which if we're honest with ourselves, I'm sure at least one of these is probably something you may have thought or currently struggle with, this episode is for you. In this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, I'm going to challenge you with four more questions to kind of help bring to light why you can't seem to build the body that you want. And by the end, I know that you will have hope, motivation, and clarity on what you need to do in order to finally reach your body goals. But before we dive in, I wanted to share this sweet review from Jess L713. She gave a five-star review and said:
"Such a blessing, Julie, you are a fresh breath of air. I've been listening to you weekly and you never disappoint. I even sometimes go back to listen episodes two or three times. Thank you for pushing, challenging, and encouraging everyone of us that listen and follow you on all platforms."
First of all, thank you so much for this review. I appreciate you guys so much. Your words, your words of encouragement, how this podcast has helped you. If this podcast has helped you in any way, just ask that you leave a review. That has kind of the one ask that I have for this show, and it really just does help us out. It helps us spread the message of Embrace Your Real to more women. So if you can, scooch over to Apple Podcast, you can find that on any apple device, whether that's an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook, you can type in Embrace Your Real on the podcast app. And first make sure you are subscribed so that you never miss an episode. And second, if you could click that rating and review, it takes less than 30 seconds, but it really does help us out reach the message of Embrace Your Real to more women. So let's dive into this episode questions to ask yourself if you don't have the body that you currently want.
Question number one, are you actually taking action or just complaining? The number one issue that I see with women who are unhappy in their bodies is that they are only complaining and zero action is actually being taken. They're constantly complaining about not fitting into their clothes or not feeling comfortable in their body, not feeling healthy or any of those things. They're complaining all the time yet they're actually not doing anything to change the way that they're feeling in their body, and they're not doing anything that's actually going to help them build the body that they want. I hate to break it to you, but complaining will not and does not get you anywhere. There is no amount of complaining that will help you lose the weight, get toned or build the body that you want. Complaining is simply a waste of time and a waste of energy, and will only hold you back. You have to stop complaining and start taking action. The next time that you catch yourself complaining about your body, ask yourself if you are actually doing anything to change your situation. Again, if you aren't doing anything, please stop complaining and just start taking action.
Number two, are your actions aligned with your goals? To piggyback off of what you just said, you can't just complain about building the body that you want. You have to align your actions with your goals. And that's oftentimes where people get caught off. So they've realized that their goals are not aligned with their actions, or they haven't even realized that. And yet they kind of skip that and they just go to complaining and saying that this is not working for them, but they're not actually realizing what the root of the issue is, which does go back to aligning your goals with your actions and making sure that they are aligned and that they are lining up with the goals that you have.
Like, if you want to lose weight, then you need to take the necessary actions to lose the weight. Or if you want to build muscle, you have to do the necessary actions to build more muscle. Or if you're struggling with confidence and you want to feel more confident in your body, you have to take the steps necessary in order to feel comfortable and confident in your body. And typically that's getting to a root issue of something because no amount of complaining, no amount of wishing, no amount of jealousy or envy will ever allow you to see results. In fact, it will likely take you on a backtrack plan and you're going to be even more frustrated than when you started.
The only thing that will lead you to results is taking action. Let me say that again. The only thing that will lead you to results is taking action. If you want your body to be a certain way, or if you want to feel a certain way, then you need to take the proper action to make yourself get to that place. That's the only way. There's no lazy way to building the body that you want. You need to put in the work to see the results. And if someone is telling you that there is an easy way, then it's a quick-fix solution. And that will likely only cause you to lose the results just as quickly.
So let me ask you again, are you aligning your goals with your actions? The only way to do that is to make a plan. What does your nutrition look like on a weekly basis? What steps are you taking to ensure that you're prioritizing your nutrition? What does your weekly workout schedule look like? Are you taking the steps necessary to plan your workouts ahead of time so that you are making sure that you're prioritizing them? What do your lifestyle habits need to look like? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you limiting your phone time? Are you prioritizing the things that need to be prioritized? What habits do you need to eliminate? And what habits do you need to start to prioritize in your life?
You need to stop complaining and start making a plan and start taking action. That's really, you just cannot build the body that you want without those three things. And I know that this is hard truth, but I say it in love because I want you to see the body that you want to achieve. I want you to see the results that you have, and I want you to achieve those things, but it's not going to come from a place of laziness. In fact, it's the exact opposite. We have to get uncomfortable in order to get to a place that we've never been. And so just remember that the next time that you are frustrated with where you're at. Yeah, give yourself five minutes. Be frustrated with yourself, start complaining, write stuff down. But then once that five minutes is up, you got to pick yourself up and you got to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, "Honestly, am I making this a priority? And what do I need to change?"
Question number three, are you staying consistent? This is another issue that I see, is that women who are complaining about their body, when I ask them if they're taking action, they say yes, but then when I ask them if they're consistently taking action, they say yes. And then from there I say, okay, tell me how often, or how many workouts did you skip in the past week, or the past month? Or how many weekends were spent overindulging and not following your nutrition program and honoring your body with the foods that are going to fuel you best and make you feel your best? Or how many times did you go out to eat or out to drinks? Or how many times did you fail to nourish or move your body? And these are not things that are bad things. This is life, right? But you have to look at all of these things and you have to reflect on the fact of if you're truly being consistent. And oftentimes when people are reflecting on those questions that I ask them, they realize that they're not actually being consistent.
Sometimes we are honestly completely unaware of the fact that we aren't being consistent. And this is our greatest pitfall when it comes to building the body that we want. We kid ourselves into thinking that we're doing everything right, and turning a blind eye to all of the skipped workouts and over indulgences. And we can't really think in the same way that a salad is not going to bring you results overnight. It's not going to deter you from reaching your goals, but you have to ask yourself, "What am I doing on a consistent basis?" You have to ask yourself, "Am I being consistent?" And if that's the case and you're saying, "Yes, I've been consistent," okay, for how long? Have you been consistent for four days? Have you been consistent for four weeks? What about four months? Like you have to give it time. Especially if it's a sustainable lifestyle, you have to give yourself the time in order for you to create and sustain those results. You have to do it consistent. Again, you don't have to do it perfectly, but you have to do it consistently. It must be consistently and perfect.
But here's the thing. I'm not asking you to be perfect. I'm asking you to be consistent. You can be consistently imperfectly, and that's okay. All that matters is you're committed to being consistent, even when it's not done perfectly. So the next time that you complain about the way that your body looks or the habits that you're frustrated that you don't have, or that you're not sticking to, ask yourself this: are you aligning your actions with your goals? Are you being consistent with the habits that will lead you to building the body that you want? Or are you just complaining without taking action? The next time that you complain about the way that your body looks, I need you to ask yourself these questions:
Number one, are you aligning your actions with your goals?
Number two, are you being consistent with the habits that are leading you towards building the body that you want?
Or number three, are you just complaining without taking action?
And I need you to be honest about this because the more honest that we are, the easier it is for us to start taking the steps necessary in order to get to where we want to be. Complaining won't get you anywhere, but action always will. Start taking action and be consistent with it.
I hope this kind of gives you some food for thought on the choices that you're making. I know that it's hard truth, but I say it in love. I say it because I want you again, to build the body that you want. I want you to feel confident. I want you to achieve the goals that you have. If you're ready to start taking action, but really don't know where to start, I have two amazing tools to help you.
Number one, I have a tool that will help you consistently nourish your body with what you need. That's my Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy, and this is going to make it super simple for you to start taking action with your nutrition. And number two, if you need a tool to help you stay consistent with moving your body, my Movement With Julie weekly workout app. I bring you five programmed workouts every single week that literally allow you to just open up your phone and do it. There are no excuses. All you need is your body weight, a small space and a few pair of dumbbells. So it really does, it makes it failproof and it makes it effortless so that you can easily remain consistent with your workout. So if you're interested in either of those, I will go ahead and link both of those in the description below.
But please remember this. If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you. And I know that such a cliche saying, but it's true. And sometimes we need to remind ourselves of those simple truths. It's going to take time, it's going to take effort, but nothing that is good that comes, ever comes easy.
And so I just want you to remain consistent. I want you to be proud of the results that you have. And the beautiful thing about these journeys that we go on is even when it's super hard, when you can get to the other side or when you achieve your first goal and you look back on the journey, it makes you even more proud because you know what it took to get there. You know that it took your blood, sweat, and tears. You know that it took really pushing yourself into this goal and aligning yourself. And being honest with yourself and looking at yourself in the mirror and asking yourself like, "What are the things that I'm doing right now that are just not helping me?" And ridding yourself of some of those things, taking yourself out of some toxic situations or some toxic habits that maybe you've developed, and just taking an honest look at yourself. I can tell you just speaking from experience, all the times that I do that, I'm just always so grateful on the other side of it because I have the journey of it and that I have the blood, sweat, and tears to remind me that nothing truly good comes super easy. And it shouldn't because a diamond is made under pressure and that's the most beautiful thing.
And so sometimes in the hardest seasons of our life or the hardest things that we do, the most beautiful thing can come on the other side of it. And the character that has been developed in that season will carry with you. I hope that this encourages you. I hope that this inspires you to take action. I want this summer to be a season of action. I want you to reach your goals. I want you to feel the absolute best that you can. And so it starts with really taking an honest look at yourself.
If you have a girlfriend or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link and send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. Be sure to give us a tag, Embrace Your Real on Instagram. We love connecting with you guys and we love seeing your aha moments. Thank you so much for tuning in. I love you 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'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.