4 Reminders That Changed How I see my body

 

The holidays can bring so much joy, and they can also stir up body image thoughts that steal your peace. Photos, family comments, richer foods, and a disrupted routine can make you hyper-aware of how you look instead of helping you live the moments in front of you.

In this episode, I am sharing four reminders that helped me shift from controlling my body to caring for it. These are the truths I come back to when the season feels loud and I want to move through it with more freedom, grace, and confidence.

Here is what you will learn:

  • The simple lens I use to remember what actually makes life feel meaningful

  • How I define my “perfect weight” in a way that supports real life

  • A kinder way to relate to the mirror so you can be present again

  • Why chasing smaller often shrinks your life and what to choose instead

  • A grounding practice to reconnect with your body when comparison shows up

If this conversation meets you at the right time, let it be permission to live the season you are in with softness and self-respect.

If you loved this episode, you will also enjoy:
5 Body Image Tips That Will Change the Game 

If you want more from me, be sure to check out… 

Transcript

00:00

00:00 - Speaker 1

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 Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace your Real podcast.

00:40

The holidays are coming up or, for some of us, they already are here and as much as this season is filled with joy, connection and celebration, it also tends to stir up something else, which is body image insecurities. Maybe it's the extra food, the family comments, the photos, or just being out of your normal routine or rhythm. Whatever it is, it's easy to let those thoughts take over, to spend the season worried about how you look instead of actually living it, and I don't want that for you. So, before we head into the thick of the holiday season, I want to talk about it now, before those thoughts start to steal your peace or make you feel like you have to earn your fun. Today, I'm sharing four reminders that have completely changed the way that I personally see my body, especially during this time of year. These are lessons that I've learned along the way and I hope that they will help you approach the holidays with more freedom, more grace and more confidence than ever before.

01:23

Before we dive in, I want to share this sweet review. She gave a five-star review and said new chapter. I love hearing about your journey and mindset. I'm so proud to follow your journey. I love this so much. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send in this review. Whether it's a long review, a short review, they all mean the world to me. Just kind of know how a specific episode, or maybe just the podcast in general, has helped you. So if you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating interview, that would mean the absolute world to me and our team. All right, let's just dive right into it.

01:51

Reminder number one the happiest moments of my life had nothing to do with how I looked. When I personally think about the moments that make me feel alive my wedding day, the day that I gave birth to Blake, like the hiking or the travel with my friends and family, laughing with my family until my stomach hurt. None of them literally had anything to do with my reflection. I was not thinking about my stomach, my thighs, the number on the scale. I was just there, fully present, fully living, and looking back. That taught me something so powerful that joy and body obsession cannot coexist. The moments that filled me up were the ones that I literally forgot what I look like, like I'm talking about when I am giving birth. Okay, you don't think about what you are looking like when you are giving birth. And the moment that you literally get to see and hear your baby for the first time. There is nothing like that. Nothing in the world is like that. Right, and all of these moments are ones where I legitimately forgot what I look like. They're about connection, they're about laughter, they're about purpose, not aesthetic. So if you've ever thought I'll be happier when I look different, I want you to remember this.

03:01

Happiness does not start when your body changes. It starts when your focus does. Your body Isn't the memory. Your life is Reminder.

03:09

Number two is that your perfect weight is the weight that lets you live life to the fullest. For years, you guys, I chased a goal weight. I thought that the number would finally make me feel confident and at peace. But every time that I got close I realized it came with constant calculation, saying no to dinners, stressing about my every calorie, losing joy in the process. And eventually I learned that my perfect weight isn't the lowest number that I can maintain. It's the one that allows me to live freely. It's the weight where I can go out for pizza with my husband, my family, blake, I can travel without panic, I can eat dessert with my family without the guilt. It's where my energy is strong, my hormones are balanced and my workouts feel powerful instead of draining. Your perfect weight is not defined by a number. It's defined by how you can fully live your life while feeling healthy, while feeling confident and while feeling whole. If you're sacrificing happiness to maintain a size, it is not wellness, it's restriction in disguise. Peace comes when your body feels supported, not micromanaged. Reminder.

04:13

Number three life is too short to spend it at war with yourself. I personally spent years in quiet conflict with my body, waking up, checking the mirror, picking myself apart, all before the day even began, and one day it literally hit me like I was fighting the only home that I will ever have. Your body is not your enemy. It's the vehicle through which you get to experience everything in this life the hugs, the sunsets, the laughter, the movement. When you are constantly at war with yourself, you lose the ability to enjoy the very life that you're working so hard to improve. No one else is noticing the little life that you're working so hard to improve. No one else is noticing the little things that you are obsessing over the people who care about you. They care about your energy, they care about your soul. They care about your laughter, your heart, not the inch that you gained or the angle that you hate. So what if, this holiday season, instead of trying to fix yourself, you decided to befriend yourself? Peace with your body starts when you stop treating it like a project and you start treating it like a partner.

05:17

And, last but not least, reminder number four, your happiest life will never come from your smallest body. For a long time Like I'm talking a decade of my life I believe that if I could just lose a little bit more weight, if I could tone up, if I could finally look fit enough, then everything else would fall into place. But every time I hit a new low on the scale, I did not feel free. I felt fragile. I was chasing smaller, but my world was shrinking with me. I said no to spontaneous plans. I obsessed over food. I spent more time thinking about my body than actually living in it, and that's when I realized that your happiest life doesn't come from your smallest body. It comes from your most alive one. It's the one where you can say yes to dessert, yes to rest days, yes to being in the photo instead of hiding behind the camera. It's the life where you can walk into a room and focus on connection instead of comparison. Your body was never meant to be your life's project. It was meant to be the home that you live your life in. There you have it.

06:14

Let's quickly recap those four reminders that changed how I personally see my body and hopefully they do for you as well, during this holiday season. Number one the happiest moments of your life will never depend on how you look. Number two your perfect weight is the one that supports the fullest version of your life. Number three life is too short to spend it at war with yourself. And number four your happiest life will not come from your smallest body.

06:41

If you take nothing else away from today's bonus episode, I just want you to take this one thing you do not need to earn peace with your body. You need to stop giving it conditions. If this episode resonated with you, would you just take a moment to follow, embrace your Real, either on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and leave a quick rating or review? It really does help our community grow and reach more women who need these reminders. If you loved today's episode, I know you will also love episode 530, five body image tips that will change the game.

07:13

And if you're ready to learn how to fuel your body without guilt, how to eat in a way that supports your strength, energy and freedom, I want you to join me inside my Moot with Julie online community. You are going to learn how to track with confidence, how to transition into learning how to properly fuel your body and, eventually, intuitive eating, learning what it feels like to properly feel your body with the proper amount of protein, carbs and fats, and finally build a healthy relationship with food. I would love for you to learn more so you can go to macrocountymadesimplecom Again, that's macrocountymadesimplecom. And if you're needing help with dumbbell-only workouts, I've got a program for you. All you need is a few pair of dumbbells and a small space. I give you five brand new workouts every single week.

07:58

You can go to sale that's S-A-L-Emovementwithjuliecom. Again, that's salemovementwithjuliecom To learn more. You can get your first month as a brand new subscriber 50% off. Or, if you want to sign up for annual, you actually get four months for free. We're doing a huge sale and a huge annual sale going on there. So, again, salesalemoonwithjuliecom.

08:23

That is all that I have for today's episode. Give yourself grace, enjoy the season that you're in and I will talk to you in the next one. Love you so much much. 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 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. You.

 
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