What It Actually Means to Embrace Your Real

 

Someone recently asked me what “embrace your real” actually means.

Not as a podcast name. Not as a cute phrase. But on a random Tuesday when the mirror feels hard, life feels messy, and the version of yourself in your head does not match the season you are actually in.

And honestly, I have not stopped thinking about it.

In this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, we are going back to the foundation of this show and unpacking what this phrase really means in real life. Not the polished version. Not the pretend-you-love-everything version. The real one.

This conversation is for the woman who has goals, but does not want to hate herself into reaching them. The woman who wants to grow, but is tired of building everything from pressure, shame, and comparison.

What’s Discussed:

  • The question that made me look at “embrace your real” in a deeper way

  • Why this phrase is not about giving up on your goals

  • How to start from truth instead of pretending everything is fine

  • Why real life has to be part of the plan, not the thing that ruins it

  • How to stop measuring your progress against someone else’s timeline

  • Why the routines you actually enjoy matter more than you think

  • How to look at your story without letting shame have the final word

Movement With Julie was built for real life, not perfect conditions. Inside the app, you get five brand-new workouts each week with minimal equipment, so movement can meet you in the season you are actually in. Head to movementwithjulie.com to get started.

If you loved this episode, you will also love Episode 108: Self Love: The #1 Thing That Transformed My Mindset. It is the perfect next listen if this conversation made you want to keep working on the way you see yourself.

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 Real 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 Real. Let's get it, let's go! (0:32) Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast.

(0:36) I'm really excited about today's episode because we're doing something we've honestly never done in all these years of podcasts. (0:43) We're going back to the very foundation of the show. Like I get DMs all the time of people saying, Julie, (0:49) I love the name of your podcast.

And I love that, honestly. (0:52) But recently someone asked me a question and I have not stopped thinking about it since and she's like, okay, (0:57) but what am I actually supposed to be embracing? Like what does embracing my real (1:02) actually mean on a Tuesday afternoon when I'm standing in front of the mirror and not loving what I see? (1:07) And I was like, hmm, wow. Like we talk about embracing your real every single week, (1:11) but I've never actually sat down and spelled out exactly what that means.

(1:14) So today that's what we're going to be doing. I'm breaking down the five things that you should actually be embracing (1:20) because when you understand what they are, this stops being a cute podcast name and really starts becoming a way that you're living your life. (1:28) Before I dive in, though, I want to share this review.

She gave a five star review and said, wow, (1:33) exactly what I need to hear. I've been struggling with feeling confident and just feeling very (1:37) defeated the last few weeks. And today's episode really helped me in so many ways.

As I listened, (1:42) I kept pressing each additional link about confidence and not caring about what other (1:46) others think. Thank you, Julie, for all the tools and the friend talk that I needed. (1:50) I also love the simplicity of just recognizing the negative mindset and saying, (1:55) that's not relevant.

Keep being amazingly you. I love this so much. Thank you so much (1:59) for taking time out of your day.

My hope and my prayer every single time I turn on this mic (2:03) is that these episodes would be practical and they'll speak to you in a way that you need to (2:08) hear it. And sometimes you'll hear an episode and you're like, man, that's not what I need today. (2:14) But hopefully if you can just scroll through some of the episodes, I mean, we're over 600 (2:17) episodes at this point, you'll find something that you do need to hear and then bookmark (2:21) the other ones.

And on a day that you're like, I don't need this, maybe in two months, (2:27) that will be the exact podcast that you'll need two months from now and you'll have it (2:31) bookmarked for you. And so my hope, again, my hope and prayer is every time that you hear an (2:35) episode, you walk away feeling educated, inspired, empowered in some way, shape, or form through (2:41) your health and fitness journey, as well as just your mindset journey. And I always sprinkle in (2:46) faith and spiritual because that is the most important part of my life.

(2:50) And I understand that not everybody who tunes into this podcast is spiritual, (2:54) but it is a big part of my life. And so thank you for sticking with me on those episodes as well. (2:59) So if you could scooch over to Apple podcasts and leave a rating interview, that would mean (3:03) the absolute world to me and our team.

If you are on an Apple device on an iPad or on an (3:09) iPhone, every podcast app is completely free. First, make sure you subscribe so that you (3:14) never miss an episode. We release them on Monday and Thursdays.

And then you can also scroll down (3:18) there and leave a rating interview for my Spotify listeners. You can always rate the show (3:23) over there. That would mean the world to me and our team to do that as well.

And it just overall (3:27) helps us reach more women, which is the goal of this podcast. All these podcasts are free. They're (3:32) ad free.

Obviously I sprinkle in my programs because that is my job. And I believe that (3:38) these programs are super helpful for you and great tools. But overall, I have turned down (3:44) advertising for the last six years and will continue to do that just because I want these (3:49) podcasts to stay educational and inspirational for you without feeling like you hear all these (3:54) ads in between.

All right, let's get right into it. Before I walk through the five things, (3:59) I just want to say this, that embracing your real is not the same thing as settling. (4:03) I think that's the biggest misconception here that people here embrace your real.

And they (4:07) think that means, you know, giving up on goals, pretending that you love everything (4:11) about yourself when you don't. And that's not what it is. Embracing your real just means (4:15) starting from the truth of where you are.

Like instead of the fantasy of where you think you (4:21) should be and building from there, you cannot transform a body that you're at war with. (4:25) Like you can't build a life on a foundation of pretending. And so with that said, (4:30) here are five things that you should actually be embracing in my opinion.

Number one, embrace (4:35) your current body, the one that you have today. Not the body that you had in college, (4:39) not the body that you'll have 12 weeks from now, the body that you woke up with this morning. And (4:44) I need you to hear me on this one.

Your current body is not the before photo of your life. It (4:49) is the body that has carried you through every single hard thing that you've ever survived in (4:54) your life. And it deserves your respect right now, not as a reward for hitting your goal weight.

(4:59) Because here's what most of us have backwards. Respecting your body today is actually what makes (5:04) change possible. When you fuel it because you love it, when you move it because you're grateful for it (5:09) and rest it because it's earned it, that's when sustainable transformation actually happens.

(5:15) Punishment has never produced a lasting result for anyone, but love absolutely does. And again, (5:21) this doesn't mean that you can't strive to get stronger, strive to lose body fat, (5:26) but I need you to look at yourself right now and at the very least have respect for your body. (5:32) Again, that doesn't mean that you have to love every inch of your body.

It doesn't mean that you (5:36) have to fake it in the mirror when you're having a really bad body image day, but I need you to (5:41) really try to look beneath the surface and say, man, I am so grateful. And just try to think of (5:47) the things that you're thankful for. I'm grateful for the air that I'm breathing right now.

I'm (5:52) grateful for my legs. They're able to move. I'm grateful for my eyes.

I'm grateful for all (5:57) these, my fingers that I can pick things up. There are so many things that you can just look (6:02) fast. The frustrating parts of maybe the jeans don't fit the way that you want them to, (6:08) or maybe you just feel sluggish.

You just feel blah today. I need you to look a layer deeper (6:13) and really start to just look through that lens of gratefulness and thankfulness towards your (6:19) body. Number two, embrace your season.

This one is so big and I feel like nobody talks about it. (6:25) Your reel includes the season of life that you are actually in right now. The new mom season, (6:32) running on literally three to four hours of sleep or less.

The busiest stretch of your career, (6:37) the season of walking through grief or healing from something really hard that you just walk (6:41) through or that you're currently walking through. Your nutrition and movement need to match your (6:46) season, not the season of the influencer that you follow who has a full-time nanny or a (6:51) private chef or everything's going right in her life right now. Some seasons are for pushing and (6:57) progressing and some seasons are for maintaining.

Listen to me. Maintaining during a hard season (7:03) is progress. Let me say that again.

Maintaining during a hard season is still progress. This is (7:11) actually one of the biggest reasons why I personally built Movement With Julie the way (7:15) that I did. You get five brand new workouts every single week that you can do at home (7:19) around your real life in whatever season you're in.

Pushing hard in this season, (7:23) the workouts are always going to challenge you. Just trying to keep your head above water, (7:27) showing up for 20 minutes, doing one or two giant circuits of a 30-minute workout, that's amazing. (7:33) But the plan is right there.

It's always waiting for you. So if you want to learn more, (7:36) you can go to sale. I say le.movewithjulie.com. But hear me when I say embracing your reel means (7:44) giving yourself permission to do what this season allows, not what the last season did.

And that's (7:50) so important that you remember that. We are going to ebb and flow. And it's very, very important (7:56) that you give yourself grace and you remind yourself that you're doing the best that you (8:01) can with what you have to give each day.

And you just let that be enough. (8:05) Number three, embrace your pace. We live in a world that really does worship these (8:11) 30-day transformations, but your progress doesn't run on anyone else's clock.

(8:17) Slow progress is still progress. And honestly, slow progress is usually the one that lasts. (8:23) The woman who loses half a pound a week while still living her life, eating food she loves, (8:29) showing up for her people, she wins every single time because she's building something (8:34) that she can keep.

So I need you to stop measuring your chapter two against someone else's (8:39) chapter 22. Embrace your pace, trust your timeline. There's one thing that I've learned (8:44) postpartum, you guys, when I share my transformation videos, I'm really trying to make it clear like, (8:50) hey, this starting point, this was 15 months postpartum, okay? This was not six weeks postpartum.

(8:57) This was not three months postpartum. This was not six months postpartum, or even nine (9:01) months postpartum, or even a year postpartum. This was 15 months postpartum.

And I just, (9:07) I need you guys to hear this. And I need to keep sharing that because I get messages (9:12) every day of women being like, oh, thank you so much for sharing this. I'm just really struggling (9:16) because I'm, you know, I had a baby seven weeks ago or eight weeks ago, and I just feel like my (9:20) body's not changing.

And I'm like, girl, give yourself time. I honestly, I tried to get back (9:27) into my journey, six weeks postpartum, and it, my body had other plans for me. Like my, my, (9:33) truly my healing had other plans for me.

I was doing good for a little bit. And then I really (9:38) started to regress and my healing, especially, you know, I've shared this in my real and raw (9:44) postpartum episodes a few months back, but I was having some issues and I really needed to figure (9:51) those out and going to a pelvic floor, physical therapist helped me tremendously. And then also (9:58) just giving myself grace.

And I just had to keep reminding myself, listen, I am on a sustainable (10:03) journey and that sustainable journey is going to take time. And I am so grateful that I did give (10:10) myself that grace this last, these last two years, because where I'm at today did not come (10:15) from 30 days or 60 days or even 90 days. It came from month after month after month of slow (10:21) progress, painfully slow progress at times, but just trusting that the painfully slow progress (10:27) was sustainable progress.

And it is, you know, here I am two years plus postpartum and I'm (10:32) the strongest I've literally ever been in my entire life. And so if there's something that (10:37) you hear and take away from my story is that please, please, please just remember that your (10:42) pace is your own pace and you have to embrace that. Number four, I need you to embrace your (10:47) preferences.

Okay. This one is fun because your real also includes like what you like, (10:52) right? If you hate running, you're not required to run. If kale makes you gag, guess what? There's (10:58) about 400 other vegetables out there.

So many people are following a plan that they secretly (11:03) hate. They're forcing themselves to go through these workouts that they dread or these meals (11:07) that they don't enjoy. And then they wonder why they keep quitting.

You're not quitting (11:11) because you lack discipline. You're quitting because you built a life on something that you (11:15) don't want to live in. But embracing your real means that you're building routines around what (11:20) you genuinely enjoy.

Like the movement that makes you feel strong, the foods that satisfy and fit (11:26) your goals while also being yummy. That's not weakness. That's wisdom in my opinion.

And that's (11:31) how you make this a forever thing instead of just a January thing once a year every year. (11:38) And last but not least, number five, embrace your story. I need you to embrace all of it.

(11:43) And this is the deepest one. So really stay here and stay with me. You're real.

That includes (11:48) your past, the yo-yo dieting, the years that you spent at war with the mirror, the things that you (11:53) said about your body that you would never say to a friend, or the things that were said about your (11:58) body to you from someone that you loved or trusted. Please, please, please hear me. That (12:04) I know that it's tempting to feel shame about that, but your story is not your shame.

It's (12:10) your strength. Every hard chapter that you went through taught you something, even if you're in (12:16) the middle of that something right now, or even if you haven't learned that something yet. (12:21) Trust me when I tell you, you will, you will.

Every restart is going to build resilience. (12:27) And the woman that you are becoming right now, she only exists because of everything that the (12:33) old you walked through. You don't have to hide where you've been to be proud of where you're (12:38) going.

Let me say that again. You don't have to hide where you've been to be proud of where (12:43) you're going. All right, let me quickly do a recap of what it actually means, in my opinion, (12:49) to embrace your real.

Number one, embrace your current body, the one that you have right now (12:54) today. Number two, embrace your season, not the past season, not even the future season, (13:01) but the season that you're in right now. Number three, embrace your pace.

This is so (13:06) important. Number four, embrace your preferences. And number five, embrace your story, all of it.

(13:13) When you put all five of those things together, you get a woman who starts from truth instead (13:18) of fantasy, who works with her life instead of against it, and who builds something that (13:23) actually lasts. That, my friend, is embracing your real. If you love this episode, (13:28) I know you will also love episode 108, self-love, the number one thing that has (13:32) transformed my mindset.

I will link that in the show notes below so that you can easily (13:36) go check that out. If this episode hit home for you, I would love for you to take a screenshot (13:40) and share it over on your Instagram story. Be sure to tag me, Julia Ledbetter, so I can see (13:44) it and share it as well.

If one of these five things resonated more than the others, (13:49) I would love to know which one. So send me over a DM. I love chatting with you guys (13:54) in my direct messages.

I genuinely love hearing from you. And again, if you haven't already, (13:58) leaving a rating interview on Apple podcast takes 30 seconds, (14:02) but it really does help this message reach more women who need to hear it. (14:06) That is all that I have for today's bonus episode.

Thank you so much for tuning in. (14:10) Remember, you only have one body. Please, please, (14:12) please embrace your real because you deserve to.

I love you so much. I mean it, (14:17) and I'll talk to you in the next one. (14:26) All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do.

(14:33) First thing, if you're not already following me on the Gram, be sure to do so. (14:37) Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post-workout real talk, (14:42) healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check.

(14:46) The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcast to never miss an episode. (14:52) Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world.

And I'm going to leave you with (14:57) one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are (15:03) completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty (15:09) goes so much deeper than the surface.

So go out there and embrace your real (15:14) because you're worth it.

 
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