Are Your Body Goals Actually Worth It? (Part 1)
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Body goals can affect our lives in both positive and negative ways, just like anything else in the world does. That's why, when setting our goals, we have to be mindful that they are worth of our time and effort.
In this 2-part series of the Embrace Your Real podcast, we will discuss the different aspects of body goals— the good, the bad, and the not so pretty. And to remember that above anything else, we must prioritize our well-being and develop a healthy relationship with our bodies.
What I discuss:
You are constantly comparing yourself to others.
You are using unhealthy methods to achieve your goals.
You are not enjoying the process.
You are neglecting other areas of your life.
Links mentioned in the episode:
Episode 348 - Is it Okay to Have Body Goals?
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
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Macro Counting Made Simple: https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com/
Website: www.juliealedbetter.com
Free e-book: www.juliealedbetter.com/free-ebook
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] 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 issue 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. [00:00:21][21.1]
[00:00:29] Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace your podcast. So in last week's bonus episode, I dove in to why I personally believe it's 100% okay to have body goals. I know that the body positivity overall movement makes it feel as though if you have a goal to change your body, then you don't actually love your body. And in that episode, I really explained when it's okay to have a body goal and how it can be extremely beneficial to your overall happiness and fulfillment and also just pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. I'll be sure to link that in the show notes so that you can easily go listen to that next. But at the same time, we need to have a look at our body goals and ask ourselves if the goal is actually worth it. [00:01:08][39.4]
[00:01:09] Are the goals worth what we're putting our mind and our body through? And I think that this is a question that many of us forget to ask ourselves on our fitness journey. And so that's why in today's episode we're going to explore the different aspects of body goals, the good, the bad, the not so pretty, because at the end of the day, it's crucial to prioritize our well-being and develop a healthy relationship with our bodies. I hope that this episode helps you realize whether or not your body goals are goals you should actually be chasing. [00:01:34][25.7]
[00:01:35] But before we dive in, I wanted to share this review. It comes from I'm going to butcher this John K a ex-gay. I'm sorry, I don't know how to pronounce that, but thank you for giving a five star review. What you said The realness. Hello. As a believer, fitness enthusiast and overall human endeavoring to be my best self. Your podcast is so refreshing. Thank you, girl. Keep doing you well. [00:01:56][21.5]
[00:01:57] I'm so grateful. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for taking time out of your day to send in this review. They genuinely do help us out. Just kind of gauge how these podcasts are helping you and specific episodes. We love to hear from you. So if you could scooch over Apple Podcasts and leave a rating interview, it would genuinely mean the world to us. We love reading them and who knows? I might read it on air. [00:02:20][22.9]
[00:02:20] Okay, so like I said before, it's okay to have goals, wanting to feel stronger, more energized or confident in your body. That's natural. But it's really important to question the source of these goals. Are they coming from within or are they influenced by these societal standards or external pressures? Are you pursuing a body goal because you genuinely want it, or do you think you should have it based off of someone else? Or are you chasing after a certain body because you think you'll be more loved or valued or sought after? [00:02:51][31.0]
[00:02:51] Don't get me wrong, when achieved in a healthy way, body goals can be amazing. I explained all those benefits in my latest bonus episode, which again I will link in the show notes below, but they are only beneficial when work towards in a healthy and sustainable way. And when you're working towards reaching goals that are healthy for your body and your mind. Sometimes the pursuit of a specific body ideal. This can lead to a negative consequence, like we might find ourselves falling into unhealthy patterns, obsessing about food over exercising, or even developing disordered eating habits. And we can also enter into a cycle of chasing goals that aren't actually healthy for our body. Like maybe you have a goal to lose 10 lbs when in actuality losing 10 lbs is not healthy for your body. These behaviors can really take a toll on our mental and physical well-being, and ultimately they're not sustainable in the long run. This is why it's crucial for you to ensure that the body goals that you are chasing, they not only align with who you are and what you believe, but also your life goals. Because I've seen it time and time again where these people put their body goals before their life goals, and they don't end up living the life that they want because they're so focused on looking a certain way. I really need you to understand that concept. [00:04:07][75.7]
[00:04:08] So I want to kind of dive into over this two part series. I want to dive into nine signs that indicate your body goals might not be the goals you should be pursuing right now. And so in today, we're going to dive into the first four, and then in part two, we'll dive into the last five. So be sure to tune in next week for that. [00:04:26][18.3]
[00:04:26] But number one, you are constantly comparing yourself to others. So if you are pursuing your body goals for the mere fact that you want to look like someone else or you think that you're less than you know someone else or whatever it is, this is not the goal that you should be pursuing. Instead, you should really be focusing on acknowledging that there's no one ideal body type. You can nourish your body and move your body all you want, but at the end of the day, you'll likely still not look like them, right? There's this quote that says You can have follow the same workout plan and eat the same food, but you're going to get a different body in the end because we God created us all individuals, we all have different types of bodies. And I think that it's so important that we recognize that this chase of wanting to look like someone is going to end in feeling unfulfilled and just wasting a ton of energy because at the end of the day, you are you you're never going to be X, Y, and Z. Of course, you can be inspired by someone. Of course you can find. Tips and tricks and all those things from people, but not following it to a tee because your ultimate goal is, Oh, I just want to look just like them. Right? Really? Instead, focus on nurturing your body, pursuing health and happiness, rather than trying to fit into this society's narrow definition of beauty that is constantly changing, honestly. And it's exhausting. One important thing that greatly helps with this is really surrounding yourself with positive influences that engage in activities, that promote this self-acceptance, and also just this overall appreciation for our bodies. Quit going to a gym that feels like a fashion contest, or everyone there is working out for vain reasons. Like you don't need to put yourself in this situation or quit hanging out with people that only talk about their bodies. You don't need to put yourself in that situation either. Instead, try to place yourself around people who allow you to feel empowered with your body, who talk about the importance of honoring and nurturing your body and really promote feeling energized and happy and healthy, whatever that looks like to you, because that's going to look different for each person. And the more that we are around something talking about something that becomes more normal in our eyes, right? Like, what is this saying? You are you are the sum of the five closest people. It's so true. Like if you are only around people who are talking about, oh my gosh, I just need to lose X, Y, and Z or Oh my gosh, I'm so fat today, or Oh my gosh, I'm not eating that. That's totally off limits. You are going to no matter how hard you try, you are going to fall into that trap and you're going to just start thinking about that, like whether you intentionally try to not think about it or not when you are around it constantly, it's going to be in the back of your mind regardless. [00:07:17][170.7]
[00:07:18] Number two, you are using unhealthy methods to achieve your goals. Oh, my gosh, this is so, so important. If you find yourself resorting to unhealthy methods to lose weight or to maintain a low weight, it's time to rethink your body goals. These methods can have detrimental effects on both your physical and your mental health, and their short term benefits are often outweighed by long term consequences. Let me repeat that again. Taking unhealthy methods towards pursuing your body goals can have detrimental effect on both your physical and mental health, and their short term benefits are often outweighed by long term consequences. Yo yo dieting, for example, involves severely restricting your caloric intake, which can lead to nutrient deficiencies, a weakened immune system, hormonal imbalances, lack of energy, lack of ability to live your life in a healthy and enjoyable way. Similarly, excessive exercise without proper rest and recovery. This will also result in hormonal imbalances, chronic fatigue and a negative impact on your overall well-being. And this is why when you have body goals that you're trying to achieve, it is so important to prioritize the health and well-being over the pursuit of these arbitrary body goals. Instead of engaging in extreme measures, I want you to focus on adopting sustainable and balance lifestyle choices. Let's be real. Is the extra 10 lbs that you want to lose worth the health issues that they cause? Is the extra pounds that you lose worth the lack of energy that you have in your daily life? My advice is to always embrace this holistic approach that includes a balanced daily intake, regular physical activity, adequate rest, self-care practices, really being in tune with your spiritual discipline. Remember that your body deserves to be nourished and cared for in a sustainable and compassionate way. After you do these things, whatever your body looks like, that is what your body is meant to look like. For example, instead of depriving yourself of food, I need you to educate yourself on what your body actually needs in order for you to change your body composition. This is actually what I did. I was under eating for years. I was living in a permanent caloric deficit and I was absolutely miserable. I finally discovered the tool of macro accounting, and I learned that I was. Not only did I start eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it, I also started nourishing my body with proper fats, proper protein, proper carbs. Daily, I realized that my body actually needs these things in a certain amount daily in order for me to thrive. I was still able to build the body that I wanted, but in a way that was so much more sustainable. And it also allowed me and healthy to realize what is actually healthy for my body and what is not healthy for my body to look like. I also stopped spending hours and hours a week grinding it out on cardio machines like I was trying to achieve this weight loss through burning calories exclusively through cardio. I learned that this is not the way to do it. It is not. Healthy and better yet, it's not even effective or efficient when it comes to building a toned body. I realized that if I wanted to change my body composition and not just lose weight because those are two totally separate things, then I needed to start resistance training. I was able to learn that less is more. I really only needed to do 30 to 45 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week in order for me to see better results than when I was doing ten plus hours a week on cardio exclusively. I not only got so much time back in my life, but I also got so much energy, so much vibrancy and so much happiness. I was able to reclaim my health because that was ultimately the most important thing. And since discovering those two things, I've developed a blueprint for you so that you can do the same thing. So if you want to learn more about my movement or Julie Fitness app, which is my dumbbell only fiber and workouts every single week, or my Mac or counting made simple online academy. Both of those things, those are the tools that will help you to achieve a sustainable and healthy approach to achieving your body goals without crossing over into this toxic diet culture territory. So if you want to learn more, I will link those in the show notes. [00:11:40][262.1]
[00:11:40] But number three, you are not enjoying the process. If you find yourself not enjoying the process of working towards your body goals, it's a strong indicator that they might not be worth pursuing because actually achieving a healthy body should be seen as a journey, not a destination. It is essential for you to find joy and fulfillment in the process rather than solely focusing on the end result. Why? Because what you're doing is not a means to an end. Although this is how so many people look at this journey. But here's what happens when you use your body goals as a means to an end. You end up yo yo dieting and never reaching your goals. This is because whatever you do to achieve your body goals is what you're going to have to do to maintain your body goals. Let me repeat that again. Whatever you do to achieve your body goals is what you're going to have to do to maintain your body goals. So if what you're doing to achieve your body goals is not something you see yourself doing in five or ten years down the road, that it's not something that you should be doing. Now, if your plan for achieving your goals is to cut out all your favorite foods and only salads exclusively, that's not enjoyable. If your plan for achieving your goals is to eat as little as possible and you feel hungry every second of the day, that's not enjoyable. If you're waking up every day and not enjoying what you're doing, then why are you doing it? This is a clear sign that you need to either ditch your body goals or ditch the avenue that you were taking to reach those body goals. When you approach your body goals as a journey. You give yourself permission to explore different strategies, learn from setbacks, and celebrate small victories along the way. If you view this process as a chore or a burden, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain motivation and sustain long term progress. On the flip side, by finding enjoyment in the process, you cultivate a positive relationship with your body and develop a sustainable habits that can be maintained over time. And this is why so many women personally have seen success with my two programs, because they are not only able to eat whatever they want without feeling any sort of deprivation, but they're also doing movement that doesn't feel like a punishment. And that's something that they're dreading doing because the workouts change from week to week. Of course, you're doing the same foundational movements from week to week because that's what's going to be the most beneficial in building muscle and building strength. But you're not getting bored because it's the same exact thing week after week. What many people in my programs realize along the way is that they don't in fact want a skinny body. They want a strong, capable body that feels energized and happy. And at the end of the day, that should be the ultimate goal that you're looking for. And that's going to look different for every person. What energy looks like, what happiness looks like, what strong looks like. That is, of course, going to be customized from person to person. But I think so often we go into this and we say we just want a smaller version of ourselves and we don't realize the negative effects that that can have not only on our mindset but on the physical aspect of it as well. [00:14:43][182.4]
[00:14:43] And number four, you are neglecting other areas of your life. So if you find yourself neglecting other essential areas of your life, such as your relationships, your work, your hobbies in order to pursue your body goals, this is a clear indicator that these goals might not be worth pursuing. So while a healthy body is important, it should not come at the expense of other significant aspects of your life. This is where that balance needs to be struck, right? Obviously, if your friends are going out every single night, it's okay to miss some of those hangouts to take care of your body. But if you are constantly always choosing to go work out or skip the hangouts because you're afraid of getting fat, that's when you know that you're choosing your fitness goals over your friendships. If you're constantly choosing to eat strictly and to work out over other fun, enjoyable things. Simply because you were in this pursuit of a certain body size. You need to ask yourself if it's actually worth it. You are missing out on the life that you want to live in five years. Are you going to look back and wish that you got one extra workout in or are you going to look back and say, Man, I wish I would have done more fun things with the people that I love? I think you know the answer to that. This is why it's really important to strike that balance between being consistent with your workouts and your nutrition, but also enjoying life. And this balance, of course, is going to look differently for everyone. But really determining the right balance for you is imperative on this journey long term. So for me, I personally would rather be 5 lbs heavier and enjoy date nights with my husband and enjoy camping and doing all the fun things in the summer months, then, you know, losing five more pounds. Like I just feel more energy, I feel better. I feel like I'm able to have so many more memories when I am striking this balance for me in the summer time is 3 to 4 times a week movement with July workouts. If I'm home for that week, that's awesome. I'll try and get five in. Typically. I was just mentioning this on another podcast. Typically in the summer months I scale back and I'll do a lot more 30 minute workouts just because my days look busy, my days are busier, I have more activities going on and the 30 minute workouts inside. My mom and Julia, they are specifically designed to ensure that you are still efficiently and effectively working your muscles without compromising. So you never have to be like, Oh man, you know, if I'm only doing the 30 minutes, am I really going to see results? You absolutely are. But just for me, that's it's striking that balance and knowing that I am still going to be intentional about honoring my body with movement. But it might look different during the summer months. And that's beautiful because for me, if I know that I'm going to be hiking and outside a lot more, I still want to prioritize that resistance training, at least making sure that I'm hitting those major muscle groups. But I'm also enjoying movement outside of my workouts. And that's for me, man. That took me a decade plus of my life to understand that movement looks like so many different things. It is not just your workouts and to not feel guilty if you miss a workout, but you're intentionally moving outside like that. To me, it's going to take time and it's going to look different, like I mentioned for every other person. But I no longer need to be obsessive about it and make it the sole focus of my life. In fact, now my nutrition and my movement, my intentional workouts and honoring my body movement, that is an addition into my life. It has provided me with so much energy. It has allowed me to pursue things in a way that I never thought I could before because I feel my best. I'm physically strong. I have things in the proper priority. [00:18:17][213.6]
[00:18:18] So there you have it. Those are the first four signs that your body goals are not in fact worth it. Let me quickly recap them. Number one, if you're pursuing your body goals for the mere fact that you want to look like someone else or think that you are less than someone else, this is a clear indicator that this is not something worth pursuing. You can nourish your body and move your body all you want, but at the end of the day, you will still not look like that because you are not created to look like them. As long as you feel energized, happy and healthy, whatever your body looks like after that, that's what it's supposed to look like. Number two, if you find yourself resorting to unhealthy methods to lose weight or maintain a low weight, it's time to rethink your body goals. These methods can have detrimental effects on both your health, physically and mentally, and their short term benefits are often outweighed by long term consequences. Number three, if you find yourself not enjoying the process towards working towards your body goals, it is a strong indicator that they might not be worth pursuing, at least in this season of your life. Achieving a healthy body should be seen as a journey, not a destination. So what you are doing now to achieve your desired goal is not a means to an end, because whatever you do to achieve your body goals now is what you're going to need to do to keep maintaining those body goals. And lastly, number four, if you are neglecting other areas of your life, if you find yourself neglecting essential areas such as relationships, work hobbies in order to pursue your body goals, that is a clear indicator that they might not be worth pursuing. While a healthy body and mind is important, it should never come at the expense of other significant aspects of your life, and there really is a balance that needs to be struck. [00:20:03][105.1]
[00:20:04] So if you find yourself chasing body goals that might not be healthy or sustainable and you really want to work towards a different body goal and working towards educating yourself on how to properly nourish your body or move your body. Like I mentioned, I have two programs. They work in harmony with one another to ensure that you are taking a healthy and sustainable approach that can set you up for success long term. I will link both my max. Opening meets import online academy as well as my movement with Julie app in the show notes that you can easily go check those out. Don't forget to two things. Number one, if you didn't listen to last week's bonus episode, I will link that in the show notes so that you can tune in as to why I'm a huge believer that you can have body goals. They just need to be in the proper perspective and then be sure to stay tuned for part two, where I will dive into the remaining five more signs that your body goals aren't actually worth it. If you have a friend, a coworker, 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. As always, you can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this, post it up on your Instagram story. Be sure to tag me so that I can see it. I love you so much. I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:21:14][70.7]
[00:21:23] 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 eye 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. [00:21:23][0.0]
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