6 Actually Helpful Ways to Get Back on Track This Fall (Without Burning Out by Week Two)

 

Hey beautiful human!
Fall is here, and with it comes that fresh-start energy. The kids are back in school, the routines are settling in, and you’re probably thinking, “This is it. I’m ready to get back on track.”

But if you’ve ever started September strong, only to feel burnt out and off-track by week two, you’re not alone. The problem isn’t your motivation. It’s the all-at-once approach that so many of us fall into.

In this episode, I’m sharing 6 actually helpful, sustainable ways to get back on track this fall without fizzling out fast.

We’re getting into:

  • Why following a structured workout plan removes excuses and builds momentum

  • How counting macros stops the binge–restrict cycle and fuels real results

  • The power of your “non-negotiable 30” and how to protect it like a promise

  • How to avoid burnout by focusing on one habit at a time (and how to make it stick)

  • How to turn your phone into a tool for accountability instead of distraction

  • Why consistency, not perfection, is what actually transforms your life

If you want this fall to actually feel like a reset that lasts, this episode will help you start strong, stay consistent, and feel good doing it.

🎧 Want more tips to stay consistent? Listen next to Episode 36: 10 Ways to Stay on Track on the Weekend

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

Website: www.juliealedbetter.com

Transcript

00:00

Hey there, beautiful human, you're listening to Embrace your Real with me, julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice 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 and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace your Real podcast.

00:32

For so many of us, I think, fall feels like this big reset button, like the summer. Chaos is winding down, kids are back in school, routines are starting to normalize a little bit, even though if it's a little bit chaotic the first couple of weeks getting back into that routine and you think like, yes, this is it, this is my time to get back on track and listen. I love, love, love that energy. I really do. But here is the problem Intention isn't always enough. I think a lot of us try to dive headfirst into all the things with amazing motivation at first, but then, a couple of weeks in, like life happens work gets busy, the motivation wears off and suddenly that strong start fizzles out. Or maybe this sounds familiar. You go hard at the beginning, you're trying to fix everything at once, but then by week two you're completely burnt out, you're frustrated, You're back at square one. If this sounds familiar, this episode is for you, because today I'm going to be breaking down six actually helpful ways to get back on track this fall without burning out by week two. These are very simple, very doable and designed to help you build that momentum without the overwhelm. So if you've been feeling that reset energy but don't want to crash and burn two weeks in, stick with me. I've got you covered and we're just going to dive right into today's episode.

01:46

So number one follow a workout plan so that you don't waste time deciding what to do. Okay, confession time. How many times have you said I will work out later and then that never happens? Or maybe you've even walked into the gym, you've looked around and you thought I don't even know what I'm going to do today and before you know it, you're scrolling on your phone instead of actually moving your body. That's what happens when you don't have a plan. Every day turns into another decision that you have to make and, honestly, you already have decision fatigue from work, kids, errands, life by the time that you finally get a window to work out, the mental load of figuring out what to do becomes too heavy and the fix is just follow a plan. A workout plan is like a roadmap it eliminates the what should I do? Moment because it's already mapped out for you. You don't have to guess, you just have to show up and do it.

02:35

So how do you actually build a plan? I kind of want to break this down for you. First, you need to decide how many days are realistic for you to commit to. So for most women, three to four days per week. That's kind of the sweet spot, and research shows that that's actually enough frequency to see muscle growth and strength gains, while still leaving time for you to have recovery and flexibility within your week. Second, you have to structure your workouts around a full body strength training as well as upper lower body split. Why? Because large muscle groups burn more calories, they build more strength and they give you the most bang for your buck, especially if you're only gonna be working out three days a week.

03:13

Third, use progressive overload, if possible. Now, this is a science-backed principle that simply just means that you are gradually increasing the challenge on your muscle over time, and this means that adding more weight, doing more reps, slowing down your tempo, creating more tension, without progressive overload, though you're likely going to plateau and with it you'll actually see results. Fourth, balance, strength and conditioning. So your main focus should be dumbbell-based resistance training, but you can absolutely sprinkle in those short bursts of cardio or even that long, steady state cardio if you love doing. You know resistance training, but you can absolutely sprinkle in those short bursts of cardio or even that long, steady state cardio If you love doing. You know walking pad while you're working, or you love getting outside and doing a walk with yourself, your pups, your baby, your family. But think you know 10, 15, 20, even 30, 40 minutes. But if you are doing those short bursts of cardio, you can do those. You know intervals, so you do all out for 30 seconds, then you rest for a minute and 30 or two minutes, then go all out for another 30 seconds and do that five to nine rounds, depending on how long you want to do it. But that's going to keep your heart healthy and your endurance up as well.

04:19

And finally, keep it simple and repeatable. You don't need a complete brand new workout every single day. In fact, if you are repeating similar movements now, this doesn't mean that it has to be the exact same movement, but if it's a variation of the compound movements, you're likely going to get better at them. You're going to be able to track progress. You're going to be able to avoid injury. I want you to think about squats, presses, rows, lunges, hinge movements. I want you to master the basics, because that will take you farther than any random workout that you're doing from day to day.

04:50

Now I know that might sound like a lot to figure out on your own choosing the right exercises, organizing the days, making sure that you're progressing but that's exactly why I created the Movement With Julie app. So inside the app, I've already done all of this for you. You get dumbbell-based workouts that are professionally programmed, with progression built in. Whether you have 30 minutes, it's anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes. That 30-minute session is going to take you, or you have that full 45 to 60-minute session. Whatever it is, every exercise has a how-to video so that you know exactly how to do it. So there's video demos for every single movement and there are beginner-friendly body weight variations. If you don't have access to a bench, I always give no bench alternates. There are so many amazing opportunities for you inside the app to remove the excuses, which means that there are fewer skip days and way more momentum going into the fall.

05:47

Number two count your macros. So you stop this eat clean binge repeat cycle. I've gotta say this because it's probably one of the biggest reasons why women get stuck. But you're trying to just eat clean right Monday through Thursday. You're good, you've got grilled chicken, you've got veggies, you're maybe even skipping those snacks, but by Friday night you are ready to roll. You're starving, you're excited, it's Friday, it's the weekend, there's a football game on or there's friends events going on, and what happens? The snacks come out, the wine comes out and before you know it, the whole weekend just feels like a binge fest. And then Monday rolls around and you're starting that cycle all over again. If that sounds familiar, I get it. I was in that cycle for a decade of my life and let me tell you it is absolutely exhausting. And this is where counting macros can be a total game changer. And before you roll your eyes, hear me out.

06:38

Macro counting isn't about being obsessive, it's about being aware. It's about simply tracking how much protein, how much fat, how many carbs you're eating so your body actually has the fuel that it needs. Let me kind of break it down for you in very simple layman terms. So protein this is a non-negotiable. This is what's going to build and repair those muscles, keep you feeling full and supports your metabolism. Research actually consistently shows that women who hit their protein needs not only build muscle more effectively but also manage their hunger better throughout the day. So, aiming for anywhere from 0.8 to one gram of protein per pound of body weight, that's a great starting point for most active women. Then we have carbohydrates, so these are your body's main energy source, especially if you're lifting weights or doing any kind of high intensity movement.

07:26

The problem is a lot of women that I know and just have worked with over the years. They cut carbs too low in the name of eating clean, and then they're shocked when the cravings and the fatigue hits hard. But carbs are not the enemy, they're literally the gas in your tank. And then, last but not least, is fats. Now, these oftentimes get overlooked, but they're essential, especially ladies. Listen up for the hormone brain function and satiation. So if you've ever felt moody or low energy or irregular cycles or on a super low fat diet, this is why your body needs fat.

07:59

And when you count your macros, you're not guessing them anymore. You're not eating as little as possible during the week and then completely overeating on the weekend. You're fueling your body consistently, with the right balance, and that alone can stop those wild hunger swings and binges. And let me be clear it's not about punishment. It's about absolute freedom. When you know your numbers, you can fit that pizza night in. You can enjoy the dessert. You don't have to spiral into guilt because you know that you are still on track. Instead of good or bad days, you just have balanced ones.

08:32

And now I know this can feel very overwhelming. At first. You're like, okay, I don't even know how to figure out my numbers. What about when my goals change? What about when my activity changes? What if I don't want to track forever? Those are all very valid questions, and that's exactly why I created my Macro Academy and Simple Online Academy. So this is my step-by-step academy that teaches you how to calculate your macros based on your body and your goals, how to move through different phases for fat loss or muscle building, and how to make macro counting something that can actually be lived with and not obsessed over. You'll get tons of tips. You'll get recipes, strategies to make it work in real life, so that you're not chained to that food scale or app forever. No, to make it work in real life so that you're not chained to that food scale or app forever. No extremes, no guessing, just clarity and freedom around food. So if you are tired of that, eat clean binge repeat cycle, this could be your answer. I will go ahead and link it in the show notes below so that you can easily go check it out.

09:26

But number three you have to pick your non-negotiable 30. Now here's a trick that has saved me more times than I can count, and that is your non-negotiable 30. Life is absolutely going to throw you curve ball. Kids get sick, meetings run late, dinner plans pop up and on those days you're probably not going to hit every single goal. And that's okay, because here's the deal If you can commit to just 30 minutes for yourself, no matter what, you will stay consistent long term. Now let's kind of talk about what that actually looks like.

09:56

So your non-negotiable 30 doesn't have to mean the same thing every day. So some days it might be a strength workout, other days it might be logging your food, meal prepping or even taking a quiet walk outside to kind of reset your stress. The point isn't what you do. It's that you protect that window of time like an appointment that you would never cancel, and here's why it works. Psychology tells us that habits are built on identity, not perfection. So when you show up for yourself for even 30 minutes a day, you're reinforcing that identity of I'm someone who takes care of myself, and that identity matters way more for long-term consistency than chasing this unrealistic perfect streak. Research also shows that carving out small, consistent rituals actually lowers stress. Even something as simple as a 30-minute walk has been linked to improved mood, reduced cortisol and better sleep quality. So your non-negotiable 30 isn't just about discipline. It's literally about resetting your brain and your body and, last but not least, it builds self-trust.

10:59

I want you to think about it like brushing your teeth. You don't say I don't have time to brush my teeth today, you just do it. So when you start treating those 30 minutes like brushing your teeth, a non-negotiable automatic, you're proving to yourself I keep my promises, even when life is messy, and that's powerful. So here's my challenge for you I want you to pick what your non-negotiable 30 looks like this week. I want you to write it down. I want you to set a reminder on your phone and I want you to protect it like it matters, because it absolutely does. And here's the beautiful part when you stack enough of those 30 minute blocks together over weeks and months, that's when you're going to start to see results. Your mindset, your body, your strength, your habits, your consistency not from doing everything perfectly, but from consistently showing up, even in the small ways.

11:45

Number four don't try to fix everything at once. Now, this one is huge. I see it all the time. September rolls around and women think all right, I'm going to start working out six days a week, I'm going to cut out all sugar, I'm going to wake up at 5 am before the kids, I'm going to pray and journal every night, I'm going to drink a gallon, I'm going to meal prep, everything and listen. I love that excitement. I truly do. I love the motivation behind it to overhaul your entire life overnight. That is a complete recipe for burnout. That's why, by week two, most people already are back to old habits.

12:17

So here's what I want you to do instead I want you to just choose one habit, just one. When you focus on a single change, your body and your brain can actually adapt, and research shows that willpower is like a battery it drains quickly if you're trying to change 10 things at once, but if you pour your energy into one shift at a time, you're way more likely to stick with it. Now, once you've picked that one habit, here's how you make it stick. You stack it into something that you're already doing, and this is what behavior scientists call habit stacking. So, for example, if you already make coffee in the morning, use that time to prep your water bottle and grab your entire schedule. You're simply attaching one new habit to something that you're already doing every single day, and that's what makes it stick. And remember small equals sustainable and sustainable equals results. Your goal is to not flip your entire life upside down in one weekend. Your goal is to create momentum that lasts through the fall, through the holidays and into the new year, and that happens one habit at a time. So instead of fixing your whole life at once, I want you to pick your one thing, I want you to master it and then, once that feels like it's automatic, then you can layer on the next, and that's how real, lasting transformation happens.

13:47

Number five make your phone, keep you accountable. So let's be real. We probably check our phones anywhere from 50 to over a hundred times per day, which sounds crazy, but if you actually keep a tally, you will be amazed at how many times you go to pick up your phone. For most of us, it's the first thing that we look at in the morning. It's the last thing that we look at at night, and while, yes, that can be a distraction, it can also be one of the best tools for staying on track if you use it the right way. Here's why this matters. Research actually shows that cue-based reminders dramatically increase follow-through on habits. So, in other words, when you're prompted in the moment, you're way more likely to actually do the thing than if you're relying on memory or motivation alone. So I want you to make your phone work for you instead of against you. So start with a simple alarm or notification. So I want you to make your phone work for you instead of against you. So start with a simple alarm or notification.

14:36

These don't have to be the annoying buzzers. They can be those little nudges that pop up throughout the day, like time to eat your protein or movement with Julie, workout, or log your macros, or even something as simple as take your non-negotiable 30. The key here is to time these reminders to when you're most likely to forget. So, for example, if you always skip your afternoon snack and you end up like ravenous by dinner, set a 3 pm reminder that says, okay, go grab a protein-friendly snack right now. Next, use your calendar like it's a coach. I want you to block your workouts into your schedule, the same way that you would block a meeting or an appointment. When it's in your calendar, it feels like a non-negotiable appointment instead of a maybe. I'll get to it. And you can also use these habit tracking apps, so tools like Streaks or Habit Bull, or even just the Notes app on your phone so you can visually see your consistency and, seeing those check marks, they actually add up and that's a dopamine hit that your brain loves, which makes you want to keep going.

15:36

Now here's the other side of it Cut back on the noise. So if your phone is constantly buzzing with social media notifications, that is not accountability, that is distraction. Studies have shown that excessive time on social media can increase stress. It can increase comparison, even lower motivation, and if you've ever scrolled fitness content and felt worse about yourself instead of inspired, you know exactly what I'm talking about. So I want you to maybe try setting app limits so you're not spending time, endless hours, comparing yourself to strangers online. The less time that you waste scrolling, the more time and energy that you free up actually following through on your goals.

16:14

Think about it this way Would you rather spend 45 minutes watching someone else work out or actually get your own workout in and finally change your lock screen? Seriously, put a sticky note style reminder right where it says and you can't miss it that says did you move today or did you feel your body or drink your water? It says I know it sounds silly, but if you're already unlocking your phone a hundred times a day, you might as well get a little nudge each time. So here's the mindset shift your phone can either drain you with distractions or it can be a coach in your pocket nudging you to get back on track. So I want you to use it intentionally. I want you to set these reminders, I want you to protect your time from the scroll, because both of those together will keep you far more consistent than relying on motivation alone.

16:58

And last but not least, number six track consistency, not perfection. So if you take one thing from this episode. Let it be. This. Progress does not come from perfection. It comes from consistency. Here's the truth. You're going to miss a workout sometimes, you're going to go over your macros, you're going to have days where life throws you completely off. That doesn't mean that you failed. That doesn't mean that you're off track. That means that you are human and the real key is what happens next.

17:25

There's actually a principle from James Clear that he wrote the book Atomic Habits, which I absolutely love, but he said never miss twice. Wrote the book Atomic Habits, which I absolutely love, but he said never miss twice. So missing once is life, missing twice is a pattern. And if you skip a workout on Monday, no big deal. Just don't skip it on Tuesday. If you had an unplanned pizza night, enjoy it and then log back into your tracker the next day. The one rule keeps those small slip-ups from snowballing into giving up altogether. And here's why this works, because momentum matters more than streak. So science actually shows that habits form, not because you're perfect, but because you're showing up often enough for the behavior to actually stick. So missing once, that won't undo your progress, but quitting absolutely will.

18:09

Consistency builds identity. So every time that you show up, even if it's imperfect. You're reinforcing that belief like I'm someone who takes care of myself, and that identity is what fuels long-term results. Tracking consistency gives you perspective. So when you actually mark down your workouts or you're logging your meals, you'll see that, even if you missed a day or two, overall you're showing up way more than you think, and that reminder is actually motivating, not discouraging. So instead of obsessing about being perfect 100% of the time, I want you to shift your focus to being constant and consistent 80 to 90% of the time, and that's where the magic actually happens. That's where you build a lifestyle, not just another short-term sprint.

18:53

Here's what I want you to try. I want you to start tracking your wins, not your slip-ups. Did you get your workout in three times this week? Amazing. Did you hit your protein goal five out of the seven days? That's progress. Stop erasing your efforts because of one off day. The long game is what absolutely matters, because here's the thing consistency compounds. It may not feel like much at the moment, but when you stack up those weeks and those months of consistent action, that's where you actually start seeing the results that you've been chasing. Not from doing everything perfectly, but from refusing to quit. The goal isn't perfection. The goal is to keep showing up, and when you focus on that, the results will take care of themselves.

19:33

All right, let's wrap this up. So fall can absolutely be a fresh start, but only if you approach it in a way that's realistic, sustainable and rooted in respect for yourself. You don't need crash plan that burns you out by week two. You need a simple, consistent action plan that actually moves you forward. So here's what we covered today.

19:53

Number one follow a workout plan so you stop wasting energy deciding what to do and actually use that time to train. Number two count your macros to fuel your body consistently and end that eat clean binge repeat cycle. Number three pick your non-negotiable 30 so that you have a daily anchor. No matter how messy life gets, you know that you're going to have that 30 minutes to do X, y and Z. Number four don't try to fix everything at once. I want you to master one habit at a time and then stack them for lasting change. Number five make your phone work for you with reminders, calendars, accountability instead of distractions. And last but not least, number six track consistency, not perfection, because progress comes from showing up often, not from getting it right every single time. And if you only take one thing away, let it be this. Getting back on track isn't about going all in and burning out. It's about small, steady steps that compound over time when you focus on consistency instead of perfection.

20:54

Fall doesn't have to be just another reset that you abandon. It can actually be the season where you build the momentum that carries you through the rest of the year into the new year. So pick one thing from this list and I want you to start it today. Don't try to do all six. I want you to pick one and start there. Don't wait for Monday, don't wait for the perfect moment. Just start small, stay consistent and trust that those little wins absolutely do add up.

21:20

If you love this episode, I know you'll also love episode 36, 10 ways to stay on track this weekend. And if you're ready for some extra support this fall, I've got two things for you. The first one is the Movement with Julie app. So this is where I will help you take the guesswork out of your workout. So, literally, you just show up, you follow the workout and you get it done. And if nutrition has you feeling stuck, my macro counting means simple. That's going to help you find freedom with food while still making progress.

21:48

But remember, you don't need to overhaul everything all at once to get back on track. You don't need a burnout by week two. You just need to make a few smart, sustainable shifts, keep showing up and trust that that momentum will build. You are one decision away from moving forward today, so make it count. All right, I love you so much.

22:08

That is all that I have for today's episode. I will talk to you in the next one. 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. Thank you.

 
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