44: Overcoming Common Obstacles

Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hello, my little sugar cubes. Welcome to the Fitness Manifest Podcast. If you Speaker 1 00:00:04 Want clue what to do. That's a resort not to do. Speaker 2 00:00:10 Side effects might include motivation, empowerment giggles, enlightenment, inspiration. Speaker 0 00:00:17 Welcome to the Fitness Manifest Podcast. I'm Coach Theresa, your virtual personal trainer, teaching you how your body works so you can reach and maintain your ideal health and fitness. So today I wanna talk about planning for obstacles and how to overcome them. 'cause that's a huge thing in, when you're first starting your health and fitness journey, you have this idea of what being healthy is, or like what it takes to reach your health and fitness goals. And then you make a plan for it. Right? Speaker 3 00:00:46 Uh, I, I usually just go to what is the ideal. The planning part is also rough, but the ideal I have, you gotta go every day to the gym and live there. Oh. And you don't eat a lot. Or if you do eat, it's like vegetables. You drink a lot of water. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I think drinking water is like that puts you in the next, that's true. Fitness. Ah, okay. A lot of water. But yeah, usually I just get to the, this is my ideal, this is the what you want. And you don't do a lot of the, the planning. 'cause the planning. Then you run into the obstacles, so then you stop planning <laugh>. Speaker 0 00:01:26 Sure. So usually Speaker 3 00:01:27 That's what I run into Speaker 0 00:01:28 You, you have this notion of what health and fitness is, and you say, what in that idea do I want to achieve? So maybe you're like, I have been dehydrated and that's what I wanna work on. Versus someone else might be thinking, oh, their idea of health and fitness is being able to lift a lot of weight. Being able to, you know, maybe not lift a car mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but be able to lift a couch comfortably and being able to like maneuver easily. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So they'll create a plan, or they'll have this idea of what health their health and fitness looks like. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So all in all, most folks, they have this idea of what health and fitness looks like. They decide they want to get a little bit closer to that ideal and they create a plan. And like you said, obstacles come up. So let's talk about how we can actually either plan for them or when you're encountering them, how can you overcome them. Speaker 3 00:02:26 That would be good to know. Because I see it as like, when you think about the healthier lifestyle or like being more fit, it's always on the other side of something. Like I have to do all of the, like, there's a giant wall of like, oh, I have to do all these tasks. And then once I finally get over there to like the healthy side, then I'm just gonna be healthy. Speaker 0 00:02:50 Ah, that's an interesting perspective. And you know what, it's pretty common now that you mention it. I have heard that idea of that wall. Speaker 3 00:02:59 Yeah. It's like, how and how do I get over? So I guess that's what looking through the, like looking at the obstacles, like with your planning would help with, because the way I look at it's, I'm like, okay, well there's just this giant wall. And like I know on the other side of that, like, I'm healthy person, I'm working out, you know, I'm fit and all this stuff, but how do I get through the wall? How do I phase through into that healthier lifestyle? How do Speaker 0 00:03:29 You, how do you climb over it? Speaker 3 00:03:30 Yeah. And then it, then it's like the, the stress of like, well, once I get over it, am I not having any sweets? There's now no junk food, or else I get kicked back onto like the unhealthy, like the unfit side. Speaker 0 00:03:45 So it's like there's, there's this divider. It's either you're healthy or you're unhealthy. Yeah, Speaker 3 00:03:51 Exactly. There's no in between. Mm. And there's just a lot of things in the way. Speaker 0 00:03:58 Well, let's think about like, why, why is there that divider? Like why is it either you're healthy or you're not healthy? Either you're working towards your goal or you're not going, going, working towards your goal. Like how come it's not a spectrum? Because, because, Speaker 3 00:04:13 I don't know, I guess it just doesn't seem achievable unless you are maybe 'cause like what I see or like the things that you perceive are a lot of just one or the other. Hmm. Like, you're either not healthy at all, or you're super healthy and it's like the live at the gym kind of thing. <laugh> and, and it seems, it seems like those are the options. Right. Speaker 0 00:04:37 Every time you say that, I just imagine a Catherine, you know, emerging from one of the lockers. She'd be like, all right, it's time. It's my, my morning workout time <laugh>. Speaker 3 00:04:47 And then I go back <laugh> and I sleep under one of the benches. Yeah, Speaker 0 00:04:51 You recover. Right? And then, yeah. All right. It's time for my evening workout. Speaker 3 00:04:55 <laugh>. Yeah. That's what I like. That's what it seems like. That's what like working out becomes, or like to be healthy. That's what it seems like you have to do. Speaker 0 00:05:06 And I think that emerges like way back from like when TV started, but even more now with social media, it's, we see the highlight reel of folks. So when they're actually eating healthy food, when they're making these like green smoothies or they're doing their workout, but we never see the days where they're like, oh, I feel so bloated. Or I'm just like stressed out and I just wanna eat a whole box of pizza. Mm-hmm. Speaker 3 00:05:33 <affirmative>. Those are most of the days that I see for myself. Because even there are times when I make healthy choices, but I don't see that putting me into the category of, oh, I'm on the other side of that wall. Like I'm fit and healthy. Hmm. So I don't, well you're the expert, I just bring you my problems. But I do like, I see, like, I want to pursue that goal and I guess it's also a change of mentality to think I'm not gonna be on the other side of the wall and just like, no, that's like no sugar. Always going to the gym, never missing a day. And that any choice that I make that's outside of that would put me back into the unhealthy. Like, Hmm. I'm no longer at my goal state. I'm not in, you know, I'm not being the healthiest version of me. Speaker 0 00:06:20 Yeah. Definitely have to understand your, your view. So whereas you feel like there is a wall, but either you're either healthy or unhealthy, other folks might say you're, I'm either progressing and it has to be like, I'm making wins. There can't be any setbacks. Yeah. So more kind of like a, a road, like you can't get, you can't, you know, go off on a detour. Yes. You have to stay in line, otherwise you're failing. Yeah. That's like another perspective. So first understand like, what is your perspective? Do some reflection, understand what you're feeling. And then from there ask yourself, is this the only truth? Is there other option? Can, can working on your fitness goal be a spectrum? Like you're either doing a little bit like better than yesterday or maybe today is a little bit worse, but that's okay. Like what other options are there? Speaker 3 00:07:19 Well, I don't know. <laugh>, it seems like there, it, it seems, I guess like what you're saying is it has to be like linear, it has to be steps towards health and fitness. Always. And there's no, Speaker 0 00:07:32 What I'm saying is there are stages. Speaker 3 00:07:36 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Speaker 0 00:07:37 You, there's different stages and depending on the day, depending on your mood, you might be in a different stage. Whereas one day if you're feeling like really good you're feel you are well rested. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you're feeling energized. Like that day your idea and of your performance and your idea of health and fitness might be close to each other. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Right? So you might feel like, oh, I'm a little bit, I'm feeling like I'm a healthy person. Like I feel like I am like quote unquote, what do you, what do you call it? Like a gym rat. Okay. You know? Or like, I feel like I identify as a healthy person. I identify as someone that prioritizes their health ofs. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Whereas another day maybe you're like close to your period. You're just like, my goal is just to like survive. Like I just wanna be able to hit my, you know, hit my water intake. Yeah. And like I'll be happy. Speaker 3 00:08:35 Okay. So adjusting the goal to fit what's doable for that day. Exactly. Because I guess every day if I'm like a hundred percent you're gonna do like the most. That makes it really hard to get. Yeah. Or it makes it feel like I've lost the day. If I don't hit that a hundred percent goal, if I don't do like everything, Speaker 0 00:08:57 You definitely have to be realistic. You can't be at a hundred percent performance every single day. Like you can't be perfect when it comes down to it. You cannot be perfect. Nothing is perfect in this world. Computers crash. Like how are you more gonna expect yourself to be better than a computer? Like never have any like, uh, what do you call it? Slowdowns? No, Speaker 3 00:09:22 Reboots. Buffering. Speaker 0 00:09:23 Yeah. Buffering the wheel. Yeah. Everyone has bad days. Everything has like issues. So we don't expect for you to be like a, either I'm perfect or I'm not perfect and I'm failing. Yeah. You can't be like I am, I have to be, you know, a hundred percent all the time. Can't make any mistakes otherwise. Like I'm a failure. Speaker 3 00:09:43 That's how it seems. It's like it's only one or the other. Hmm. But how do you adjust that mentality? Or like what? Because I feel like it's one thing to just, I guess every day you have to sit and like internalize it. Like, I don't have to be perfect. I, Speaker 0 00:09:57 Well I think it's understanding that effort is never wasted. If you put in the effort to make your day align with your health and fitness goals, then that is a win. Whatever that means to you. If it means that you get your workout in and you eat one meal with like vegetables on it and a source of protein mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like that's effort you win. Whereas I would say a complete fail. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> would be, you're just stuck. You're paralyzed into thinking I should be doing this, but I'm not. I should be doing this but I'm not. And you're just stuck. You're not, you're, you're holding yourself back. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And you're not doing, you're like, your day doesn't align with your health and fitness goals. Speaker 3 00:10:46 And is that more about making it like a priority of doing your health and fitness? Because like I get stuck a lot. Like, okay, I'm not doing it, but then I'm sitting there not doing Mm. But it's like, Speaker 0 00:10:59 So how do you get unstuck? Yeah. Okay. So in that scenario, focus on what is the smallest step four that you can take. So does that mean that you like buy yourself a really cute water bottle and you fill it up for the day and you're like, yes, I wanna use it for a week. <laugh>, which is sometimes it happens, right? But like, okay, that's a small step forward. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you have identified that that is something that you wanna work on. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? You identified that if I have something cute, it motivates me a little bit more to actually use it. Okay. So how can I like, use that more in my life? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So maybe, you know, you plan cute outfits so that you're a little bit more motivated to go to the, to the Speaker 3 00:11:50 Gym. The gym. Okay. Speaker 0 00:11:51 So finding these like little hidden motivations. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> that are just a small step forward. Not like, you're not going from like, oh I should be doing this, but I'm not to all of a sudden I'm doing it consistently for a whole week. Right. 'cause that's a big jump. It's just going from, oh, I should be doing this. Well let me just do x this one little step. Mm-hmm. Speaker 3 00:12:16 <affirmative>, I guess. Yeah. I could just be the example. So let's say like I have a goal, like my goal is to just be healthier, right? To eat a little bit healthier. Just to feel a little bit more energy throughout the day and to like tone and get stronger. Speaker 0 00:12:31 That's a lot. Speaker 3 00:12:32 So that's already too much. Speaker 0 00:12:34 It depends on where you're at. Okay. Are you already practicing some of those Speaker 3 00:12:39 Goals? Okay. So let's say no. If for my example, it would be you're like right now, no. Right. Speaker 0 00:12:45 That's a lot. Speaker 3 00:12:46 So then what do I like? So then walk me through the process. Like what would I do? Speaker 0 00:12:51 Pick one. What's one thing that you wanna work on that is realistic that you're able, willing, and ready to work on? Speaker 3 00:13:00 Well, I would like, I guess minimum I would like to have more energy. Right. So like, feel not super tired every day. Speaker 0 00:13:10 What, what makes you more energized? Is it sleep? Is it eating? Speaker 3 00:13:15 Is it, I think it's partially sleep. Okay. I think it has to do with eating as well. Like kind of the foods I eat. 'cause sometimes I'll get really busy with work and then I won't have eat. Oh. It'll be like, oh it's, it's seven o'clock and there's, I didn't have lunch. I had the little granola bar for breakfast. So I actually didn't eat like an energizing full meal. Mm. And now I'm exhausted and I don't have any energy so I don't wanna make food. So then I go grab whatever's like the fastest. Right. Okay. So it's like that kind of drains my energy throughout the day. And I feel like, what do I do to get like, the obstacle is I feel like I don't have the time because I'm working. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and it's like, oh, work is such a big priority. Speaker 0 00:14:00 What's what gets in the way of your sleep then? Speaker 3 00:14:03 Working. Speaker 0 00:14:04 Working. You're working late or like you're thinking about work when you're trying to sleep? Both. Both? Speaker 3 00:14:09 Okay. Yeah. Sometimes it's working late, but then a lot of time it's like, oh look I'm not doing this email. Or like, I should be doing this. I should be doing that. And then tomorrow I'm gonna be doing this, this and that. Mm. And then you've been awake for three hours. <laugh>. Oh no. <laugh>. I was supposed to be sleeping. Speaker 0 00:14:28 Right. It's like the harder you try to sleep the less you can fall asleep. Yeah. Yeah. I hear that. Um, okay, so then what do you feel you're able to control? Do you, are you able to control your, like setting boundaries at work or like controlling a, like your meal times? Or do you feel like you have better control or more ability of controlling your bedtime routine? And like what do you do when you're thinking about your to-do list? Speaker 3 00:14:59 I think I could control my bedtime routine more. 'cause when I'm at work, it's like you have to meet these goals. So like you have to, there's a lot of these Speaker 0 00:15:06 Things outside pressures, right? Speaker 3 00:15:08 You have to do these things throughout the day. And it's not that like, I'm not given a break, but it's not my priority to take it. So it's like the break is there, everybody's like, take a break. But I am like, well I have have to finish this stuff. So I just like run over that time. So I think at nighttime I might be able to control it a little bit more if I do something. Speaker 0 00:15:33 What, what could be something that you change? Speaker 3 00:15:38 I could try to go to sleep earlier. That way I offset the time that I'm thinking about work and I actually end up going to bed on, on time. But Speaker 0 00:15:46 It sounded like the issue is you can't fall asleep. Speaker 3 00:15:49 Yeah. Speaker 0 00:15:50 So does going to sleep early fix the issue that you can't go to sleep? Speaker 3 00:15:55 I guess not. Alright. Speaker 0 00:15:56 <laugh>. But do you see kind of what I'm doing, I'm taking this big goal that you stated and I'm kind of breaking it down into a smaller and smaller chunk. Yeah. And always asking like, what's in your control? Uh, what change can you do? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then towards the end, once you say like, I don't know if I'm, I'm just gonna assume normally you would wanna actually think about this and go through all of your thoughts and process everything. Yeah. But you, let's say you come with a conclusion that, okay, when I find myself running through my to-do list in my head, I'm going to get up and I'm gonna write every single thing that I have to do tomorrow. And every worry and every like, thing that I'm thinking of getting out of my head. Speaker 3 00:16:46 Okay. Speaker 0 00:16:47 Okay. So then the last piece is asking how confident do you feel that you can do this? So how confident do you feel that when you find yourself thinking about all the things that you have to do, you are able to get up and write everything down on a scale? Like one through 10, one being like, there's no way I can do that. Absolutely not. 10 being like, yeah, I could do it. I don't see why not. Speaker 3 00:17:10 Yeah. I think we're at like, at a solid eight. The only thing that would prevent me from doing it is like the giant voice in my head that's going, no, you're supposed to be sleeping. But if I know that by, by like doing that, I'll get to sleep, then it's like, why can't I, that, that seems very manageable. Okay. Get up and just write it down and then, I don't know, like put it away and then try to go back to sleep. Speaker 0 00:17:35 Yeah. So now at least you're thinking, you know, that you're not gonna forget anything tomorrow. Right? 'cause you wrote it down. Speaker 3 00:17:41 Yeah. And that seems very manageable. Like that seems simple. If everything could be that simple Speaker 0 00:17:47 <laugh>, but it, you can make it it that simple. That's the whole point of what I'm trying to like teach in this, in this episode is even though you have all these, you these grand plans and these obstacles that are getting in your way, there is an, there's a way that you can simplify it and find a manageable solution to Speaker 3 00:18:07 Them. Okay. So then let's stop talking I guess about my personal problems. And let's think about it more generally, right? So like what are, what is the general idea for people? So it sounds like first you have to come up with your goal of what you want and not make it 50 goals. Like, well Speaker 0 00:18:29 You already already have your goal, right? Right. I don't think you'd be listening to this episode if you didn't have like a fitness goal. Okay. Speaker 3 00:18:35 <laugh>. Okay. Speaker 0 00:18:36 So you have a goal already. Okay. And maybe you're finding overwhelming, maybe you don't know where to start. Maybe you like you're trying and it's not really working. Okay. So take that goal and pick one that you are wanting to work on that you're like, either I'm motivated to work on this. So like your sleep mm-hmm. <affirmative> your energy or you find you are able to like, it's manageable. Speaker 3 00:19:02 Okay. Like, Speaker 0 00:19:03 I don't know, maybe you're not like the most skilled cook mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So that seems like an overwhelming like, ah, there's so many little things that I would have to learn. Yeah. But like, I feel like focusing more on the energy and getting better sleep. Like I can do that. Okay. So finding that pick one out of the, the bigger goal mm-hmm. <affirmative> and then dive it down again of like what is getting in the way of you achieving that goal. Okay. So it's better sleep. Or like what is getting in the way of you making a home cooked meal mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then break that down into, within that obstacle, within that goal, what is in your control? Like, it's in your control to learn how to cook. It's in your control to, to manage and adjust your bedtime routine. Right. Speaker 0 00:19:56 And then you focus a little bit more, break it down and say, okay, well what is one change that you're willing, ready, and capable of doing? And it, it depends on everyone. Once you understand the structure, it makes it so much easy. Like, it's easy to understand, it's easy to break down these big goals. The hard part that I find folks struggling with is they, they get stuck on that wall. Like you're saying. They see this giant wall between them and their, and their goal mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And they're like, I don't know how the heck am I gonna climb this? Or like, there's no way around it. Like what? I'm just staring at it and I'm, I don't know what to do. Right. Speaker 3 00:20:37 That's, yeah. Speaker 0 00:20:39 If you want, if you're like struggling and you want some help, you could join my fitness manifest membership and we work on this and I share, you know, some strategies on how to work on this. If you would like some like individual attention where like kind of what Catherine and I just did, we go back and forth. Then you could do sign up for coaching. I'm always gonna offer these free services. 'cause like, I wanna help people, but sometimes we need that little extra coach. That little extra help. Speaker 3 00:21:08 Yeah. Well, what I found, I think one of the ways, like I, I haven't done the example of fitness as much, but like in general, like if there's something I want to do and I was on the fence, I noticed that if I was like, Hey, I'm gonna sign up for the class, that would gimme the extra push. I was like, oh, well I have to go. I, I mean I paid for it. Mm. Like I signed up for the class, so I'm, I'm gonna go. 'cause I spent money on it, you know? Yeah. And that made me like dedicated. 'cause I was like, okay, well that's, you know, like I spent money that I earned to do that. So now I have to see this to the other side. Speaker 0 00:21:42 It's so interesting that you say that because it's so true. We have, there's a lot of free info free workouts mm-hmm. <affirmative> free, like meal ideas and folks don't do it. Speaker 3 00:21:54 I think that makes it, yeah. 'cause there's so many, 'cause when I think like, oh, I, okay, I have to do this and this and that. I was like, well I can get a, I'll just do the free workout on YouTube. I'll just look it up later and I'll just do it. Yeah. Speaker 0 00:22:05 But when you pay something up, when you're like, Hey, I gotta get my money's worth, I gotta get it done. Yeah. Speaker 3 00:22:10 And like I, yeah. I never look it up. Hmm. But it's like, there's so many free resources and I'm like, yeah, I'll just do that. It'll be easy. But then I, I don't ever go to find them. Like I don't have the internal drive to be like, yeah, I'm gonna go after the free stuff. But then when I like paid for a class, it was easy to go. Hmm. Yeah. And, you know, 'cause I had paid for it. So everybody needs to buy <laugh>. Speaker 0 00:22:38 Yeah. Yes. Services. Buy my services you need to buy. Speaker 3 00:22:45 No. Okay. So, so then if we're looking at the general population of people, right? And I'm sure everybody has like, the same few obstacles that they run into all the time. Or that you, I guess run into all the time when you're coaching. Speaker 0 00:23:01 One that I wanna highlight is when you're feeling unmotivated. 'cause that's a huge one. And there aren't really, at least when I was, when I like do research about this stuff and like try to find ideas for clients. There's not like a easy answer. There's not really like, here's some steps. Like there's some, but I don't feel like they work. I feel like they're too like, eh, like for example, and they'd be like, oh, if you're not feeling motivated, like, you know, find a playlist that you like. And I'm like, okay, yo, I'll find a playlist and it'll sound nice, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna get up outta my chair and like start my workout. Speaker 3 00:23:46 <laugh>. I I would, yeah. I would be like, yeah, this would be something that I'm gonna work. Yeah. Right. This would be good to work out to skip. Speaker 0 00:23:54 Right. So what is, how can you overcome not feeling motivated? So like, you want this goal, you wanna reach, I don't know, maybe like a certain size pants. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and you wanna feel you're gonna do that through weight loss. Okay. So, but then you're not doing the workouts, you're not doing, you're not eating healthy, you're not doing all these things that you said you wanted to do. Okay. So how do you go from, you're not motivated to now you're motivated. That's a big gap. Gap isn't it? Yeah. Speaker 3 00:24:29 Like a change of personality or something. Speaker 0 00:24:31 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Just change your Speaker 3 00:24:33 Settings. Swap it out. Yeah. Reboot and start over. Speaker 0 00:24:38 Kind of, kind of, you think about why you started in the first place. Why did you decide, hey, I'm gonna start working out, I'm gonna start eating healthier. And like the first answer might be pretty superficial. Like, oh, I wanna lose weight. I wanna have a, yeah, Speaker 3 00:24:55 I Speaker 0 00:24:55 Wanna look good. Right, right. Okay. But why, why, why is it important for you to look better? Like what are you trying to get out of it? Speaker 3 00:25:06 To feel more confident. Okay. To be like, yeah. I would say that's the main thing. Like if you like the same reason that I would buy like a pair of pants that I like or like an outfit that I like is 'cause I wanna be able to wear it and then have the internal like, oh I feel really good in this outfit. Mm. And therefore like, feel I present myself more confident. Speaker 0 00:25:30 Okay. So there's like something that you kind of wanna heal it sounds like. Right. Because when you're trying to become more confident, you're trying to heal some, Speaker 3 00:25:39 Some less confident Insecurities. Speaker 0 00:25:42 Insecurities, Speaker 3 00:25:43 Okay. Yeah. Yeah. 'cause there's definitely, yeah. I feel like the, like a path towards, in some ways getting more fit and healthy is like a path to becoming more confident. Speaker 0 00:25:54 But why, like, do you have to work out to be confident? Is that the only way you get confidence? Speaker 3 00:26:04 I wanna say no, but we're talking about me specifically. Speaker 0 00:26:12 No, but I mean it's true. There's other things that you could do that build your confidence. Like, um, trying new things. Speaker 3 00:26:18 Yeah. Speaker 0 00:26:19 Um, maybe like succeeding, like you accomplish certain things. Well, Speaker 3 00:26:24 Okay. I've done a lot in my career and I'm very confident in that. Speaker 0 00:26:30 Oh, so like past past wins, past accomplish accomplishments. Speaker 3 00:26:33 Yeah. Like I, I've, you know, from where I, when I started like doing audio and to where I am now, I'm like very confident in my progression. Mm-hmm. I'm like, wow, I've done so much. But it's not like an overall confidence. I'm confident in that thing. Mm. But like if I go into, if I go to like a, an event, like a party, Speaker 0 00:26:53 It's not like Speaker 3 00:26:55 I am still super stressed. Mm-hmm. Like I'm not confident I'm be, if I would be confident if they said, Hey can you plug the speaker in? Mm-hmm. I'd be like, yeah. Speaker 0 00:27:03 Yeah. Speaker 3 00:27:04 I got that <laugh>. Speaker 0 00:27:06 It's not like a confidence isn't just like this over, it's like this label. Right. Yeah. It's like, it's like pillars. Like you're saying like I'm confident in this. Right. But not in that. Yeah. Speaker 3 00:27:17 So that would be when I'm going to an event like that, I'm thinking people are looking at me and like, it's like there's judgment or I'm not gonna fit in. Hmm. Sure. Or I'm just not gonna be able to represent myself like I want to. Speaker 0 00:27:30 Okay. Speaker 3 00:27:30 Like who I am on the inside doesn't always align how I'm presenting myself. 'cause I don't feel confident in like what I'm wearing or confident in how I look or confident in like, just the feeling like, you know, having the more energy or like not being super tired. Speaker 0 00:27:46 So then kind of coming back to the workouts mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Speaker 0 00:27:52 So far it's, I wanna feel more confident and looking good will help with that confidence. And you're trying to heal these like insecurities. Yeah. And you're also trying to make sure that when you present yourself out in the world, you are presenting a, the version that you want to present. Yeah. There's all these little like layers, right? Yeah. And the more you peel back the layers, the more you understand why, why you're taking these actions. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And you can ask yourself, are the actions in my plan aligned with what I really want? So maybe what you really want and what you're trying to get out of working out is learning to love yourself. Well guess what? Working out isn't gonna teach you how to love yourself. It's gonna teach you like how to change your body. Right. But, so then that gives you insight. Okay, I, I wanna out for another reason. Well what is that reason? And along with that, I also wanna learn how to love myself. How to be more kinder to myself. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So then you're like, okay, so I am working on these two different things. They're connected but they're also kind of different. Speaker 3 00:29:08 Okay. Speaker 0 00:29:08 So maybe if you solve or you, they're not solved, that's not the right word. But if you work on improving your self-love mm-hmm. <affirmative> and learning that self-love comes from like keeping promises to yourself. Self-love comes from being compassionate to yourself. Then you might not be as resistant to working out. 'cause you're like, I'm taking care of myself through working out. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I am showing myself self-love through working out. 'cause it's therapeutic because I actually enjoy it. Right. But do you see what I'm like, I'm going Speaker 3 00:29:43 Yeah. Because it, it stands out to me when you say like keeping promises to yourself. 'cause there's been many times where I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go work out tomorrow. Mm-hmm. And then I don't do it and I get, you know, I get in like a weird mood where I'm like, oh I'm not. And it's almost like I'm not like, you promise somebody that you're gonna do something and then you like don't show up for it or whatever you like don't fulfill it. It almost is that feeling except it's internal. Like it's all happening within my own mind. Can Speaker 0 00:30:10 You dismiss it so easily? Speaker 3 00:30:12 Yeah. I'm like, of course I wasn't gonna do it. And I just build like, well I Speaker 0 00:30:15 Mean just in the sense that I was I guess referring more to like, if your boyfriend said like, Hey I'm gonna go pick you up at six and then he doesn't show up, what are you gonna do? You're gonna feel hurt. Yeah. You're gonna feel angry. Right. But then when you break a promise to yourself, like you still have those reactions to yourself, but you kind of like dismiss it. Speaker 3 00:30:34 Yeah. Speaker 0 00:30:34 You're just like me. I guess that's just me. And then you're just like, I just feel like I need to self-soothe. And then that's sometimes when we emotionally eat. Yeah. But do you see how it's all connected? Speaker 3 00:30:45 <laugh>? Yeah. Speaker 0 00:30:46 Okay. So it's Speaker 3 00:30:47 Just too much. Speaker 0 00:30:48 So coming back to the original question, how do you overcome not feeling motivated? It's not like a easy quick answer solution, right. You kind of have to do this like analysis, reflection. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But then you can really understand why is it that you are working out mm-hmm. <affirmative> and is working out really aligned to your priority and what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But once you understand the real drive, the real reason why you want to work out, it's a lot easier to get to your workouts. Like telling yourself, Hey, I wanna look good so I'm gonna out doesn't have as much power of saying, you know, I prioritize taking care of myself and I am the type of person that I wanna be able to release my like, stress through the workout. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> like now you're just like, of course this is something that is helping me. Yeah. It's not something that I have to do. It's something that I want to do. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so you're gonna get to the gym, you're gonna do your workout. Speaker 3 00:31:57 So finding the real reason, which is often not as surface level as like just, just looking better. Right. Just, you know, that's like Speaker 0 00:32:07 The fir that's like the crunchy outer layer of an onion <laugh>, the little flaky, you know, I want, I want to get to that like green core, the little green spring bud thing. Speaker 3 00:32:20 That's when real changes happen at the center of the onion <laugh>. Speaker 0 00:32:23 Yeah. Because you're not gonna change for no reason. You're gonna change if you have a really strong reason to change. Speaker 3 00:32:31 So I guess, yeah, like the, the idea that you're changing just for looks is in essence like a superficial, like it doesn't have enough, uh, like Speaker 0 00:32:43 Motivation. Speaker 3 00:32:44 Yeah. <laugh>, I guess you're right. It doesn't, it's not enough. 'cause like Speaker 0 00:32:50 It might be enough for like a week or like a month. Right? Right. Because New Year's resolution, everyone says I wanna work out. And so folks do it for like a month to three months and then they're like, eh, I have other things that are more exciting. Right. Speaker 3 00:33:08 So if knowing that it's like really to take care of yourself or to, or Speaker 0 00:33:13 Whatever your reason is. Speaker 3 00:33:14 Yeah. Speaker 0 00:33:16 Maybe it's like prove Speaker 3 00:33:17 Your dad wrong. Speaker 0 00:33:18 Yeah. Maybe it's right. <laugh>, maybe you wanna have like a revenge body, like, I don't know, <laugh>, whatever your reason is, it has to be strong enough and motivating enough that it gets you out of the house and gets you to the gym or it gets you outside and running. Speaker 3 00:33:35 Okay. So it really, so it could be different for everybody. It's not like there's like one, not everyone's doing it for the same reason I'm doing it. Speaker 0 00:33:42 No. Speaker 3 00:33:43 So when you look around at the gym, there's a lot of different tales, a lot of stories as to why people are there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Okay. And that finding the real reason is gonna be a motivating factor. Is there any other, let's say I don't wanna, like, I'm not into the, I don't wanna do the deep dive in on myself, <laugh>, you know, what, are there like other, like people listening Speaker 0 00:34:08 To the wrong podcast? No, Speaker 3 00:34:13 I just, I don't wanna have the therapy session. You know, or like maybe, uh, like you going along with like how you said like some days you're at a different level, you know, so like maybe some days I don't really feel like thinking about why am I like being motivated in that way? Like are there some like, you know, like the quick start guide, you know, like, are there some other ways like just quick things to get me motivated. Like this day I don't really feel like giving myself the whole speech and doing the whole thing about like, you know, you're doing this because back when you were three and then da, da da, and then you're gonna do it. And now, okay, now I'm at the gym, but like I'm just not at that level today. I just wanna do like a quick, like I just want something that'll get me in there. Speaker 0 00:34:55 Sure. You're not gonna be doing this whole deep dive every single time. It's like in the beginning. Okay. Or like right now, after you listen to this episode, you're gonna do that deep dive. Right. But then like I, I, I understand what you're saying. Like, alright, in a week from now you're just like, I don't really wanna work out, I'm tired. Right. So it comes back to what is the minimum thing that you can do? What is the tiniest little step? Speaker 3 00:35:19 Okay. Speaker 0 00:35:20 Whatever that means to you. If that means like going on YouTube and doing like a laying down ab workout mm-hmm. <affirmative> where it is like very five minutes, minimal efforts, then that's it. Speaker 3 00:35:32 Okay. Speaker 0 00:35:32 And be okay with that. Speaker 3 00:35:34 Okay. Speaker 0 00:35:35 Like again, we're, we're not perfect. We can't be perfect every single day. So having that compassion of saying this is all I can do today. That's okay. Speaker 3 00:35:44 And it, would it help, does it help to have like a minimum set? So like I know on my days when I am not feeling like the a hundred percent, oh yeah. I'm gonna go all out. So like I would have a set of like, you know what, even if I'm not gonna do my a hundred percent, I have like my, my back. Like it'll always be, you know, if I'm not feeling like going to the gym doing a hundred percent like full on whole day fitness health, I have like this five minute video and that's my minimum. Like that will check the box if I'm on a day where I'm not Speaker 0 00:36:17 Absolutely feeling because there's gonna be some days where you know you're not gonna be at a hundred percent Right. Again, I'm gonna come back to like the period situation <laugh>, like when most of us are on our periods mm-hmm. <affirmative> like there's no way we're gonna do a hundred percent. Right. Like we already, it's a planned Speaker 3 00:36:34 Like so much energy is going everywhere. Speaker 0 00:36:37 Yeah. You see it. It's in your schedule. Yeah. It's in your head. You're like, I just, it's coming up. I have this like minimum. So maybe instead of doing an hour of like, I don't know, strength training, like you have a plan B. Speaker 3 00:36:50 Right. Speaker 0 00:36:51 But then there's gonna be other days where it's unplanned. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, well maybe you like had a really like poor night of sleep and the next day you're just exhausted and you have no motivation. Then you know, you decide, okay, what is my bare minimum for today? Okay. Whereas in the first example, you already know it's coming, you can plan for it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> somewhat and have that like scheduled minimum. Speaker 3 00:37:18 Okay. So it would help. So like looking at it like one of the obstacles is motivation. Then there's a couple different things like making sure you figure out the actual motivating factor. Then you have to figure out what could be a bare minimum to do when you know Yeah. When you hit that obstacle of like, because I'm not feeling it Speaker 0 00:37:43 Regardless. Like one of the biggest thing is is you know, if I'm just doing the bare minimum, like is that even enough? Right? There's that like Speaker 3 00:37:52 Right. So you just need to set Speaker 0 00:37:54 It. But think about it this way. If you were to do a hundred pullups, okay, maybe not pullups a hundred, let's do something easier. A hundred uh, pushups steps a hundred pushups. Okay. A hundred pushups in a day. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that's a lot of volume. Yes. You're gonna be really sore. Right. Speaker 3 00:38:15 If I can even do that many <laugh> Yeah. Speaker 0 00:38:17 You can do knee pushups. That's okay. Okay. So still a real pushups. So doing a hundred pushups in one day versus doing, I don't know, whatever. A hundred divided by 30 days is like four pushups a day. Speaker 3 00:38:33 Okay. Speaker 0 00:38:34 Doing four pushups a day for 30 days. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what do you feel? It's the same volume. Right. But one is gonna feel better than the other. Speaker 3 00:38:44 Right. Well one, it seems like I could actually do it like four a day seems like I could do it for 30 days. A hundred a day seems like I can't even, I, the thought is too much. Speaker 0 00:38:56 Right. So it's like it's overwhelming. Yeah. It's a lot. You're gonna, your body's gonna be so sore and you're like you're never gonna want to do it again. 'cause that's an awful experience. Yeah. Speaker 3 00:39:04 <laugh>. Speaker 0 00:39:05 So it's kind of the same thing here. Like even if you're not doing plan A and you're doing like your backup plan, plan B, that minimum like you're staying consistent. Okay. You're still putting in effort and again, effort is not wasted. Speaker 3 00:39:21 Okay. So having a minimum or, or not having a minimum but having something that is manageable is also very motivating. 'cause when I hear you say four pushups a day, I'm like, I could, I could do that. Mm. You know, like I could get down right now and I could do four pushups. Speaker 0 00:39:39 Let's Speaker 3 00:39:39 See. And then I could do that tomorrow Speaker 0 00:39:41 <laugh>. Speaker 3 00:39:43 But you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So. Okay. So then like the three things that could help combat when you're not feeling motivated is one, finding that root cause mm-hmm. <affirmative> of why two is setting like a bare minimum of like what establish one or have a rough idea so that when you run into those days when you're not feeling it, you know, well at least I'm gonna go on a walk for 10 minutes. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then the third would be to create a plan or like create actions that are um, simple enough or that seem super manageable. 'cause that'll motivate you to do 'em. 'cause like I could get those four pushups done. Speaker 0 00:40:21 I would put that third point that creating simple actions at the beginning. Okay. Well, or maybe either at the beginning or in between them. Yeah. Because the more simple and manageable you make your plan mm-hmm. <affirmative> the more likelihood you are able to accomplish it. So, and then the having the plan B, that's just like, it's like a plan B Right. Speaker 3 00:40:47 When it so for when it comes up. Speaker 0 00:40:49 Yeah. Speaker 3 00:40:51 Okay. So staying motivated and now I'm looking at the time and since I'm supposed to, I was the one that was supposed to keep track of time <laugh>. So now I'm gonna help us <laugh>. We do need to start wrapping up Theresa. So I'm gonna throw it back to you. 'cause I think, Speaker 0 00:41:09 Okay, so how do we, how do we put everything into a plan of action, right? We're talking a lot of, like, we've been talking about breaking up a goal into a small, manageable, like step forward, a small thing that you can work on that is within your control. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then we also highlighted how to overcome one obstacle, which is lack of motivation. Yeah. So for homework as the manifest challenge for you guys, <laugh>, I want you <laugh> take your, your overall health and fitness goal, whether it is to lose 20 pounds or to fit, uh, your like high school or college, you know, close, whatever it is. If it's like to be able to do one pull up, take your goal and break it down. Break it down to what is, what does it mean to reach your goal? What does it take, what actions do you have to take mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then unpack it. Yeah. Unpack it. Yes. Exactly. So that's your goal. If you have any questions, message me on Instagram at Fitness Manifest. If you want help Speaker 3 00:42:21 Or you wanna have this conversation like Theresa helped me Speaker 0 00:42:23 Yeah. Reach out to me. Just like Speaker 3 00:42:24 During this episode, if you need to have that conversation with her, Speaker 0 00:42:28 You can reach out, um, on Instagram, we can schedule something or you can visit fitness manifest.com/links and you can book a, uh, you can book a session or you can join my fitness member fitness manifest membership. And I'm gonna be doing, revamping the podcast again. So if this doesn't make any sense, I might, I'm I'm gonna tell it to you again. The more repetition, the more it makes sense. So we learn, we learn a lot through repetition. Speaker 3 00:43:00 Yeah. 'cause this is about the seventh time. Theres, and I have had this conversation not on microphones, but definitely like in other times and every time it, it sticks differently. Hmm. Like every time there's another different piece that I take out of it or that I like. Oh, okay. I can apply that. And it might be a small thing, but yeah. So it's about the seventh conversation. So you might need to talk to her a lot if you're like me, Speaker 0 00:43:24 <laugh>. All right. You got it. You can do it. I believe in you. Uh, and then I will see you in the next episode. Make sure to subscribe so that you see you when I post the next episode. All right. That's it. I'm your host, coach Theresa. Thank you Catherine for joining me on this episode. Speaker 3 00:43:42 Thank you for having me. Speaker 0 00:43:45 That was a thumbs up <laugh> Yes. That she gave us. Oh yeah. And I will see you in the next one. Bye. You Speaker 1 00:43:53 What to do, resort to you. Speaker 2 00:43:58 Side effects might include motivation, empowerment, giggles, enlightenment, inspiration.