9 Health Truths I Learned the Hard Way (Part 1)
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In life we pick up knowledge and beliefs along the way. Some we learn early on in our lives, others very much later.
And so, in this two-part series of the Embrace Your Real podcast, I’m sharing 9 health truths that I learned the hard way that I wish I knew sooner
What I discuss:
Oh, sweet girl, celebrating not getting a menstrual cycle is NOT something to get excited about.
The 1,000 calories burned on the elliptical does not make you more worthy than anyone, nor does it mean you will reach your goals faster.
Protein is essential to a healthy diet, quit being scared of it - It is not going to make you bulky or fat.
The reason you are eating copious amounts of dried fruit, nuts and grapes in your car at 10pm until you are sick is because you are depriving your body of food.
Links mentioned in the episode:
Episode 317 - 5 Reasons to Love Carbohydrates when Building the Body You Want
Episode 321 - Why You Need Fat To Build The Body That You Want
Episode 325 - Why You Need Protein to Build the Body You Want
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
Movement With Julie | App: https://sale.movementwithjulie.com/
Macro Counting Made Simple: https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com/
Website: www.juliealedbetter.com
Free e-book: www.juliealedbetter.com/free-ebook
Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-6bda1ca8?ref=cm_sw_em_r_inf_pub_influencer-6bda1ca8_dp_DgsIam9salgfi
Transcript:
Hey. Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal 5 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 a real. Let's get it. Let's go.
Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode. Today, I'm going to be sharing with you truths that I not only learn the hard way, but I wish I would have learned way, way sooner. Like these things are things that I feel. I look back at my 18, 19, 20 year old self. I desperately wish I would have known these things, and I want to share them with you because I don't want it to take you a decade to figure it out as it did for me. Let me warn you, though, some of these things that I'm going to be talking about in today's bonus episode, they're completely uncensored.
But before we dive in, I wanted to share this review comes from Ava Gabrielle. She said:
Ah, I'm loving this podcast. It makes me feel so confident with who and what I am outside my body. You are such an inspiration and your faith makes what you're saying so true. Thanks for this pod. Please don't ever stop.
Well, Ava, thank you so much for this review. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm grateful that is helping you. And today I just wanted to be like a sister to sister talk. So what are the things that I wish I would have known today is going to be part one of a two part series. So stay tuned for part two.
But number one, sweet, sweet girl celebrating not getting a menstrual cycle is not something to get excited about. This is a man. If you've lost your menstrual cycle, it is a clear sign that you need to eat more. You need to work out less. You need to treat your body in a healthier way. Losing your menstrual cycle is a way, way deeper issue than just losing your menstrual cycle. There's something else going on in your body that needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed ASAP. Long term and celebrating this long term can cause so much more damage than you realize. And if you're someone who is looking to have kids one day, it can be a huge problem. And this was me. I celebrated not getting a menstrual cycle. I know it sounds crazy for some of you. For others, You guys know exactly the mindset that you're in when you celebrate that.
I don't know, man. Like now that I'm about to be 33 this summer, I just think I was one of those people that got a menstrual cycle very early. I was one of the first in my friend group to get it, and I remember when I lost it was right outside of high school. I remember celebrating that. And even your first few years in college, I didn't have it. And I, you know, I thought it was something that was so cool. And I was like, Oh, that means, you know, that I just don't have it. And I celebrated it. I celebrated not eating as a badge of honor. I celebrated not having a menstrual cycle. Please do not be like me and do not celebrate that. And if you are in that situation right now, please go to a doctor, a physician, and figure out, get a hormone panel. I mean, there are so many different things that you can do nowadays to kind of see where you're at and what's going on in your body and please just address it sooner rather than later. That's all I want to say about that.
Number two, the thousand calories that you burned on the elliptical does not make you more worthy than anyone else, nor does it make you or will make you reach your goals any faster. Let me tell you, I used to do this like when I say I used to work out for two plus hours a day. It was me on the elliptical in my college health center. And I remember I would go in there five, six, sometimes even seven days a week. This is so crazy to me. And I would say, okay, I'm not leaving until I am until I burn a thousand calories on this elliptical machine. And it was just literally wasting time, like I was wasting so much time, I didn't realize that it was actually working against myself. I was burning off all the muscle that I was working to build. Like there are so many more fun and exciting ways to move your body than an elliptical. In fact, I don't even use an elliptical anymore. I do maybe one hit cardio session a week, which is like 20 minutes.
I am very intentional with my steps. And that's that's just my time to either listen to podcasts or I'm creating content, like I'm making videos, I'm editing videos, but man, I just love the feeling now of being able to train, train and being able to feel strong after my workouts and see the number that is high. Like I'm pushing for a high number, but it is no longer like trying to burn a thousand calories. It's okay. How much weight can I push in this workout? And there is nothing more empowering than seeing that number. When you get workout completed, when you finish your workout movement visually and you see the amount of weight that you lifted, it is so empowering. So if you are in this position that I was in in college, please, please, please, now that you burning X amount of calories on a treadmill or on an elliptical like that is not a badge of honor. And if you are not doing it in a methodical way, you're likely just working against yourself. If you do this, let's say you have a vacation in two weeks, three weeks.
I know so many people, they get into quote unquote, vacation mode and they're like, okay, I'm just going to be dialectical and I'm going to do it 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and I'm going to get I'm going to try and burn 400, 500 calories. And here's a thing. Yeah, you. You might lose a little bit of weight. But what happens when you go on vacation and you don't keep up with that? You're training your body, your training, your metabolism to be on that high level of activity. What happens when you don't do it because you realize that it's not sustainable, You're likely going to gain all the way back plus more, and then you're going to feel so discouraged. So why not go at it with a more realistic and sustainable approach and say, okay, here's the thing, I want to feel my best.
So if I have a vacation and two weeks or three weeks, I'm going to do everything that I can to fuel my body optimally. I'm not going to deprive myself of food because I know that that doesn't end well. I am not going to try to add all these cardio sessions and I'm just going to be consistent. I'm going to push myself. And these are resistance training workouts and I'm going to try to be more active outside of my workouts. Whether that's going for a hike or that's taking the dogs for a walk or just being mindful of your steps, but not necessarily going into this crazy I need to do X, Y and Z and burn all these calories so that I can feel good on my vacation only to feel like crap the day you get home from your vacation. Does that make sense?
Number three, protein is an essential to your daily intake. Stop being scared of it. It's not going to make you bulky or fat. Oh, sweet. Julie. Oh, sweet 20 year old Julie. I thought that protein was going to make me bulky. I thought it was going to make me fat. I remember specifically. Remember when I first started dating Joshua, who is now my husband, he was like you. He took a look at me and he was like, You need to be eating more protein, because I was like, I showed him like, these are my inspo pictures back on Pinterest, like back in 2000. And when was it 2012? When we met, I was on Pinterest and I had all these, you know, inspo pictures and I'm like, This is what I want to look like. And he was like, okay, you need to be eating more protein. And I specifically remember looking at him saying, No protein is going to make me bulky, it's going to make me fat. And him just literally laughing at me. And I did. That's what I thought. I was so not educated around food and there's no shame in that.
I'm telling you. Like the reason I created this podcast is so that I can educate you on these things so that you don't make the mistake that I made. Because for so long I was thinking that protein was going to make me bulky and fat was going to make me fat, and carbs were just the devil and the enemy. And it was like I felt like I couldn't eat anything because I was like, okay, you know, I'm just going to have chicken even though I don't want to have too much chicken because I don't want it to be make me bulky and asparagus. And then I was eating copious amounts of asparagus to the point where you guys literally I could clear a house with how bad my pee smelled like. It was so, so bad.
So please hear me when I say that you literally need protein, your body needs protein, your body needs carbs, your body needs fats to thrive. And you cannot remove one entirely and expect results like you need protein to build muscle so that you can burn fat. And without protein, you'll struggle to ever build the body that you want. Plus, protein can actually help you feel fuller longer, so just start incorporating it into your daily intake.
I have a whole series on how much protein you need, why protein's important, why carbs are important, and why fats are important. I will link that whole entire series. Just kind of the breakdown on macronutrients to just kind of give you like a one on one, like course on it if you are interested, or if you don't know that much about it. I will link those in the show notes below, but please know that protein will not make you bulky or fat.
And lastly, for this part one episode number four the reason that you are eating copious amounts of dried fruit, nuts, grapes in your car until 10 p.m. until you're sick is literally because you're depriving your body of food. Trigger warning. This was me, you guys. I would wake up, I would go to school, and then after school or actually on break, I would then do my thousand calorie elliptical session, which was like 2 hours. Then I would get ready again for a few more classes and then straight after my afternoon classes in college, I would then drive straight to the salon and I would work pretty much a full shift. So I would work from like 3 to 10 p.m. and I would not eat. I'm not even joking. I would try to go until ten, not eating all day. I know that sounds absolutely crazy for some of you guys. You guys know exactly what I'm talking about, but I had such a dis distortion and such a horrible relationship with food and my body that I was just trying my hardest to starve myself because I said, okay, if I can just make it to 10 p.m., then I'll only have one meal and like I won't eat that much. And here's what would happen. I would get off my shift and I would feel so hungry. I would literally want to rip my hair out and this is what I would do. I would drive to sprouts.
This is being like completely transparent with you guys. I would drive to sprouts on my way home and I would get dried fruit in like the bulk section and I would get like a ton of dried fruit, like dried mangoes. And apricots and oh my gosh, all the things nuts like almonds. And I would just eat and eat and eat until I was sick. And then I would get horrible stomach pains and I might I would get constipation, I would get diarrhea. It was just so bad, you guys. It was such a toxic cycle. And this was because I was not fueling my body. My body was literally screaming for more food. And if this is you, if you get to that point or if you know what I'm talking about, like it's because you are not fueling your body optimally.
If you nourished your body with what it actually needed, you would not feel this urge to completely overeat when you have these crazy food cravings to the point of like, I will just eat any and everything in sight, that means that you are depriving yourself throughout your day. Right. And if you would only just start eating balanced meals throughout the day, small balanced meals along with snacks back then I would punish myself of I would eat a thousand calories. It was a thousand calories that day that I would eat. I would feel mad at myself. And it was like this horrible, horrible relationship that I had with food and I had with myself.
And now I'm eating well over 2000 calories a day and I'm like, my body is functioning optimally. I feel energy, I feel vitality, I feel myself like I feel like I can finally go out into the world and like, be myself and give my best to all that I do because I'm able to properly feel my body. And so that's why I have programs about this. That's why I have a free e-book about it. I just want you guys to learn how to properly fuel your body because I don't want you to work against yourself, especially if you're working out, especially if you're strength training. And on top of that, you're trying to starve yourself to see results. That is the opposite way.
I know it sounds counterintuitive, but it is the opposite way that you are going to see results. You will not see results if you are working hard in your workouts and then you're completely starving yourself. You are working completely against yourself and you're not going to see the results that you want.
So there you have it. That is one through four of my 9 Health truths that I learned the hard way. I will have part two next week. I know that this was pretty raw and real, but again, I if I can save you some time from what I've learned, like, man, I struggled for a decade of my life and I don't want that for you. But if you two have struggled for a decade, I want I also want you to know that these things like they're real. This is a part of my past. This is a part of why I am the way that I am today and why I'm so passionate about putting out content that helps you guys and helps you to create a sustainable lifestyle. Because I know firsthand what it's like to not live in that way. I know firsthand what it's like to live in this constant, perpetual state of just feeling so disgusted with myself and then feeling like I'm going through this quicksand and I cannot get to my goals, like just not being completely overwhelmed, but also completely confused at the same time.
So I hope that this is helpful for you. Let me quickly recap those things that I mentioned today. Number one, celebrating not getting a menstrual cycle is not something to get excited about. Number two, the 1000 calories that you burn on the elliptical does not make you more worthy than anyone else, and you're honestly just wasting time. Number three, protein is essential to having a healthy daily intake. Quit being scared of it. It's not going to make you bulkier fat. And lastly, number four, the reason that you are going on these 10 p.m. sprout binge dates are because you are depriving your body of food and it is not the cycle that you can and it is not the cycle that you should be in. I would love to know some things that you wish you would have learned when you first started your health and fitness journey.
So take a screenshot of this episode. Share it on your stories. Give me a tag. We have a embrace, a real Instagram account that we love to connect with you guys on. And I want to know. I want to know some things that you wish you would have learned. Also, if you are following me with Julie, I would love to know. You can always screenshot that. I know so many women listen to these podcasts while you're doing workouts and man, that just brings my heart so, so much joy. Stay tuned for part two. I will be sharing the remaining five things of things that I wish I would have learned sooner. And they are pretty juicy. They are pretty uncensored, so stay tuned for that. I also will link that series of the macronutrients in the show notes that you can easily go tune into all of those three episodes. If you are curious about macros, if you want to learn more about protein, you want to learn more about carbs, you want to learn more about fat, and why all three of those macronutrients are essential to building the body that you want. I love you so much. I mean it. And I'll talk to you on 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 about 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 and 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 the real because you're worth it.