Is your life centered around your body?

 

Hey hey beautiful human!

So many women think confidence comes after the body changes.

After the weight is lost. After the jeans fit differently. After the arms look smaller. After the stomach feels flatter. After they finally feel “ready” to wear the swimsuit, take the photo, book the trip, go to the event, or show up without hiding.

But what if waiting for your body to change is the exact thing keeping you from becoming the woman you want to be?

In this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, I’m challenging the belief that you have to earn the right to live fully by reaching a certain body goal first. You can have goals. You can want to feel stronger. You can want to feel better in your skin. But your life is not supposed to be on pause while you work toward those things.

This episode is your reminder that confidence is not something you wait for. It is something you practice. And sometimes the first step is doing the thing you have been saving for “later” in the body you have right now.

What’s Discussed:

  • How to recognize when your body image is making decisions for you

  • The real cost of avoiding photos, trips, swimsuits, events, and new experiences

  • Why reaching a goal does not automatically give you permission to enjoy your life

  • How to stop treating your body like the price of admission for confidence

  • Why living your life now can make your health journey feel lighter

  • The one thing I want you to stop saving for “when your body changes”

The Movement With Julie app is there to help you stop waiting for the perfect season, the perfect schedule, or the perfect body before you start showing up for yourself. You’ll get workouts you can do at home or in the gym, 30-minute and 60-minute options, new workouts every week, and exercise swaps for limited equipment so you can stay consistent in real life. Head to movementwithjulie.com to get started. 

If you loved this episode, you’ll also love Episode 616: What Changed When I Stopped Waiting to Feel Ready. It is the perfect next listen if you are ready to stop putting your life on hold until you feel ready, confident, or “good enough.”

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

Transcript

(0:00) Hey, hey beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, (0:06) but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Reel with me, Julie Ledbetter.

(0:13) I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. (0:19) Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Reel. Let's get it, let's go! (0:33) Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Podcast.

I'm so grateful that you are here today. (0:38) This is a bonus episode, which means it's a little bit shorter than our usual episodes. (0:42) But do not let that fool you because what I want to talk to you today about might honestly be one of the most important things (0:47) that I've ever said on this podcast and I just could not sit on it, right? (0:51) I feel like I needed to get it out to you because I think so many of you need to hear this right now.

(0:56) So today I want to ask you something and I do not just want you to breeze past it. (1:00) I want you to actually sit with it, like really think about it, be honest with yourself. (1:04) Are you living your life or are you living for what you want your body to look like someday? (1:09) Are you making decisions based on what lights you up and what you actually want out of your life? (1:15) Or are you making decisions based on how your body looks and how you feel about it? (1:20) Are you showing up fully for your precious one life that you get? (1:24) Or are you letting your body hold you back from that? (1:27) Because I think for so many women, the answer to that last question is yes.

(1:32) And most of them don't even realize it. (1:33) And today I want to change that. (1:35) Before we dive in, though, I want to share this review.

(1:38) She gave a five star review and said, truly inspiring. (1:41) This podcast has been helping me tremendously from someone who suffers with anorexia. (1:46) This has helped me try and shift my mindset that I don't need to be super skinny in order to love my body.

(1:52) It's going to be a long road, but Julie's story and podcast is such a big help. (1:56) Keep being you, Julie. You are amazing.

(1:58) I love this so much. (2:00) I connect to so much of that. (2:02) If you don't know my story, I've talked about it many times on this podcast, (2:06) but I struggled with anorexia for a decade of my life and it really controlled me every aspect of my life.

(2:12) And so actually that is one of the things and really reasons why I created this podcast. (2:18) And so I am just so grateful that you found this podcast. (2:21) I pray that it helps you.

(2:22) I pray that it encourages you, inspires you in some way, shape or form. (2:26) All right, let's just get into the bonus episode. (2:29) Think about how much mental energy you spend on your body every single day, (2:33) like not just the time that you're spent working out or thinking about what you're eating, (2:36) but the mental bandwidth that goes towards picking apart what you see in the mirror, (2:40) comparing yourself to other women, feeling self-conscious in a room full of people, (2:44) like dreading being photographed, avoid certain situations because of how you feel in your body.

(2:49) If you could add all of that up, all of that time and energy and emotional weight, (2:54) what would it come to? (2:55) Hours a week? (2:56) More? (2:56) And what would your life look like if you got all of that back? (2:59) I want you to think about something specific right now. (3:02) Is there something that you have been putting off until your body looks different? (3:06) Maybe a trip you've not booked, a swimsuit that you've not worn, (3:09) a photo you haven't taken, a class you haven't signed up for, (3:12) a night out that you've turned down, (3:14) a version of you that you've been saving for later (3:17) for when you feel ready, when you feel good enough, (3:20) for when the number on the scale finally says what you want it to say. (3:23) Because here's the truth that I need you to hear.

(3:25) That day may never come. (3:27) Not because you're not capable of reaching your goals. (3:29) You absolutely are.

(3:31) But because if you cannot find a way to show up for your life right now (3:35) in the body that you have today, (3:36) there will always be another reason to wait. (3:39) There will always be another five pounds, another goal, (3:41) another version of yourself that feels more worthy of actually living. (3:44) And that breaks my heart because you are worthy right now, (3:48) not the future version of you, you today, exactly as you are.

(3:52) I want you to ask yourself something else as well. (3:55) If your body was not in the equation, (3:57) if how you looked were just completely off the table (4:00) as something to worry about, how would you live differently? (4:03) Would you book the trip? (4:04) Would you wear the dress? (4:05) Would you get in the photo with your kids (4:06) instead of being the one who's always hiding behind the camera? (4:09) Would you sign up for the thing that you've been too scared to try? (4:13) Show up more boldly in your relationships or your career, your life. (4:16) Whatever came up for you right now, that's information.

(4:20) That's feedback. (4:20) That's your life telling you something really important (4:23) about where you've been holding yourself back. (4:25) Because here's what I know to be true.

(4:28) The women who feel the most confident and the most free (4:30) in their bodies are not the ones who reach their goal weight. (4:33) They're the ones who decided to stop letting their body (4:36) be the price of admission for their own life. (4:39) They're the ones who said, I am not waiting anymore.

(4:41) I am not showing up. (4:43) And something really, really powerful happens (4:45) when you make that decision. (4:46) When you stop outsourcing your permission (4:48) to live fully to a number on the scale (4:50) or the reflection in the mirror, (4:52) you actually start showing up differently.

(4:54) You start taking up space. (4:55) You start saying yes. (4:57) You start living.

(4:57) And ironically, that energy, that aliveness, (5:00) is what makes the health journey feel so much lighter too. (5:04) And here's what I want you to understand. (5:06) When you actually start living your life, (5:07) when you book the trip, and when you get in the photo, (5:09) when you wear the swimsuit, when you show up fully, (5:12) something really beautiful happens.

(5:14) You realize that your body was actually never the problem. (5:17) You realize that the life that you were waiting to live, (5:19) it could have been lived all along. (5:22) Because a great life does not require a perfect body.

(5:25) It never did. (5:26) The women living the fullest, most joyful, (5:28) most meaningful lives are not the ones (5:30) who finally got the body that they always wanted. (5:32) They're the ones who stopped waiting for it.

(5:34) They're the ones who decided that their life (5:36) was too good and too short and too precious (5:38) to put on hold for a number on the scale. (5:41) And when you make that decision, (5:43) when you just choose to live, (5:45) you will look back and wonder why you ever waited at all. (5:48) So here's your challenge coming out of this episode.

(5:50) Just one thing. (5:51) I want you to think of one thing (5:53) that you've been putting off (5:54) until your body looks different. (5:55) One thing that you've been saving for later.

(5:57) And I want you to just do it. (5:59) Whether that's booking the trip, (6:00) getting in the photo, wearing the swimsuit, (6:02) signing up for the class, showing up to the event, (6:05) doing one thing that you've been telling yourself (6:06) that you would do when you feel ready. (6:07) Because you are ready right now.

(6:09) You're enough right now. (6:10) And your life, your actual beautiful precious, (6:12) one and only life is happening right now. (6:15) Not later, not when you lose the weight, right now.

(6:18) Do not let your body be the reason that you miss it. (6:21) That is what Embrace Your Real has always been about. (6:24) Not just building a stronger body, (6:26) but building a fuller, freer, more joyful life (6:29) inside the body that you have right now (6:31) while you work towards the one that you want.

(6:33) Both things can be true at the same time. (6:35) You can have goals and live fully today. (6:38) You do not have to choose.

(6:40) And before I go, if this episode hit somewhere deep, (6:43) I want you to do two things. (6:45) First, I want you to share this episode (6:46) with a woman in your life who needs to hear it. (6:49) You know exactly who she is.

(6:50) The one who's always hiding from the camera. (6:52) The one who keeps saying she'll do things (6:54) when she loses the weight. (6:55) The one who's just been waiting.

(6:57) Send it to her right now. (6:58) It takes two seconds (6:59) and it genuinely might change something for her in her life. (7:02) And second, if you have not already left a review (7:05) for this podcast, I would so appreciate it.

(7:07) If you took 60 seconds to do that, (7:09) it helps Embrace Real so much. (7:10) Reach more women who need these messages (7:12) and I read every single one of them. (7:15) They mean more than you'll ever know.

(7:16) If you love today's episode, (7:18) I also think you'll love episode 6.16. (7:20) What changed when I stopped waiting to feel ready? (7:23) It's really the perfect next step (7:25) from everything that we talked about today (7:26) and I will link that in the show notes below. (7:28) I love you so dang much. (7:30) I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one.

(7:41) All right, sister. (7:42) That's all I got for you today, (7:44) but I have two things that I need you to do. (7:48) First thing, if you are not already following me on the Gram, (7:50) be sure to do so Julie A. Ledbetter.

(7:53) Yes, it's with an A in the middle (7:54) for that daily post-workout real talk, (7:57) healthy tips and tricks, (7:59) and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. (8:02) The second thing, (8:03) be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts (8:05) to never miss an episode. (8:07) Thank you so much for joining me.

(8:10) It means the absolute world (8:11) and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. (8:14) The most beautiful women that I have met in my life (8:17) are the ones who are completely confident (8:19) and secure in being authentically themselves. (8:24) Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface.

(8:27) So go out there and embrace your real (8:29) because you're worth it.

 
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