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Emotional Eating: Navigating Social Events

Emotional Eating: Navigating Social Events

by | Aug 7, 2025 | podcast

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Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

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Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Transcript:

Open Transcript:

Cori (00:00):
Welcome to the Redefining Strength Podcast. Everything you need to succeed on your health and fitness journey, even the stuff you don’t want to hear. We can have our goals, but it can feel like every weekend we are constantly sabotaged by parties, by travel, by different things coming up, and it can feel like we’re good all week only to end up falling off. And instead of making this excuse that our weekend sabotage us, party sabotage us, we need to find a way to navigate these events. That’s why I’m super excited to be joined by Michelle, so we can talk about passing the love not the plate, and we can find ways to really reach our goals, but also navigate the big events. So Michelle, thank you so much for joining me today.

Michelle (00:44):
Thank you for having me.

Cori (00:45):
So let’s talk about this. It can be really hard when we have all these big events to find our balance because we don’t always want to be that person on a diet yet something has to change if we want to reach our goals. So how can we start to navigate food events and our goals?

Michelle (01:03):
I love that because I think right now we’re really in the season, and honestly it happens multiple times a year where you have that season where there’s reunions, there’s vacations. It’s that season where everyone kind of brings a dish season. And so lots of opportunities to fall off. And the number one thing is you have to go in with a plan. You have to set some boundaries for yourself and it can change per event. It can change for whatever’s going to really suit you. But if you don’t have those boundaries already in place, and you kind of have even practiced how some of your responses are going to be when you have someone that’s pushing a plate in front of you or trying to encourage you to consume something, we all have food pushers and oftentimes those food pushers are the people that we love. So if you don’t have a game plan set in place to even have a response for them, you’re probably going to fail. So this is something that’s going to take practice. It’s going to take, maybe go to one event and you had a game plan and maybe it doesn’t quite work. You’re going to reflect on it. You’re going to be more prepared for the next time. This isn’t a one and done. This is an adaptable approach, but you have to start with some type of a boundary for yourself.

Cori (02:18):
And I think that planning ahead is so key because it allows you to truly take ownership of also what you want. So often we think I have a goal, I can’t do this. And the mindsets and the language we use even to describe why we’re not indulging in something not only makes us want to indulge more potentially, but it holds us back from truly striking our balance or taking ownership of the choice that we’re making because as you mentioned, it will evolve. There might be a season where you say, Hey, I am not going to indulge in these different things at events because my goals are important. I need this consistency to create that change that I want to see as dramatically as I want to see it. And then at another time, you shift the focus and you do something different. But also the attitude of I’m the person on a diet I can’t have that mindset, doesn’t allow us to truly embrace the changes we actually want to make and we haven’t even planned to make. So as you’re taking ownership of what you want to do at the event, think about the language you’re really using to describe the habits you want because it’s very different to be like, oh, I’m choosing not to have this at this party because I want this balance. I’m going to work in these specific things versus, oh, I can’t have anything at this party. I need to be good. I have to be good. Right? It’s sort of that mindset too behind the actions that really adds up.

Michelle (03:30):
I love that because I really think there’s power and like you said in the mindset that you’re going about of even saying no, and maybe it’s really not a no, it’s just not now. It doesn’t mean not ever, just not now. So I think that’s something it keeps us from having this all or nothing attitude too, where if maybe you do indulge a little bit, it’s not like, oh, well I might as well go all the way because I’m off a little bit. So I do think that’s something that we need to really own is the language that we’re saying or even setting our boundaries within. So I love that you provided that.

Cori (04:07):
And we’re often so worried about what others will think of our behaviors when they only see a very small portion of our lifestyle and they aren’t going to judge us because they’re judging based on what they feel too. Their own struggles, their own successes. And so we have to take ownership of what we want to remember. Our journey will be unique. But even off of that, in assessing what you want to do, it’s not only that you might do something at a different point in your journey, but also going to different restaurants, there might be different importance. Different events might have different significance and different foods that you even enjoy. Where I can find, there’s times where I go out with family where I’m like, oh, this restaurant has healthy options. I don’t necessarily crave anything, so I’m going to do something that hits my macros.

(04:47):
Versus there might be another restaurant where I’m like, if I don’t get to have X, I will feel like I missed out, so I’m going to enjoy X. So there’s so many different ways to plan. And then even as you said, just because you do something potentially even that you didn’t plan doesn’t mean that you ruin the day. You could have gone higher protein, lower calorie early in the day to have that buffer just in case you could do something to get right back on track. Just because you get a flat tire doesn’t mean you pull over to the side of the road, right, and you slash the other three and light the car in fire and then walk away. You do what you can to move forward and learn from it. Even recognizing that that might help you strike a better balance next time.

Michelle (05:22):
Exactly. And honestly, when it comes to setting these boundaries, I think we talked about how language is important, that a boundary isn’t a forever rule. It’s really just something to provide you clarity and confidence. It usually actually reduces anxiety around these events because you’re going in with a game plan, you already have that structure put into place, you know what you may say or how you’re going to potentially turn down certain things or indulge in other things because you value it higher. So the more that you can even allow yourself that space to actually enjoy the event, by pre-planning what those boundaries are, you’re going to find that you’re going to just be able to sit better with the terms that you have provided versus feeling being at the place or being at the event or being at the family reunion and feeling the stress. This is often what I hear the most about is I hear anxiety, the stress, and if you can go in with that clarity, that confidence in your game plan, we can reduce that stress that you’re going to fill it around these events.

Cori (06:28):
And by going in with that game plan, I think there’s a few different things you’re doing. You are questioning the I deserve, right? Because we’ll say, well, I deserve to get to relax on this day. Okay, well you also deserve your goals. And sometimes to get what we deserve means also doing something that we don’t always want to do. So we have to question the language of deserve. We also have to think about worthwhile because I think a lot of times we don’t recognize, Hey, I’ve just always done this. This is a routine, this is a pattern, but is this really worth it to me? Am I actually enjoying this as much as I think I am or is it just a pattern I’ve created? And I’m kind of struggling to question that pattern because again, going back to even the example of the restaurant, there’s certain things that I realized I was just doing because oh, I go out to eat, I just get what I want versus, oh, is this really worthwhile?

(07:12):
Or would I actually enjoy the healthier thing, the more macro friendly thing, just as much, and then also feel really good because it was worthwhile for my goals. So it’s balancing all of those different things and then also recognizing who we’re doing it for because I think a lot of times we don’t recognize that we’re doing it for the other people there and their perception of us not taking ownership of the goals that we actually want to pursue. And they don’t have to live the other days in our life. They don’t have to have the struggles, the frustrations that we have. They’re only seeing this one component and they’re judging no matter what to some extent. So it’s about being true to what you want and then not even apologizing for it. Because I think a lot of times we feel the need to defend and when we defend, we end up making ourself question our own actions a little bit more.

Michelle (08:01):
Yeah, I love this because this isn’t a place where you should feel like you have to defend anything. I mean, at the end of the day, you make your choices and everyone else makes their choices or their judgments on their own behalf. And the thing is, oftentimes in the moment you may feel questioned, but oftentimes one thing that I’ve discussed with clients in the past too is when they get to their goal, how often do people do those same people that maybe were questioning or maybe you felt that you were defensive to is saying, Hey, what have you been doing? How have you gotten here? So I think that’s also something to kind of keep in mind is those same people that you may feel like you have to defend are probably going to be the same people that later down the road ask, Hey, what have you been doing? We

Cori (08:46):
Want the hard thing to achieve. And then we slightly balk at the fact that there are hard things we have to do to get there. But if you think about any great, I know you might be like, well, I’m just on a weight loss journey, but any great movie with a hero that succeeds, an athlete that succeeds, someone who accomplishes great things, there were always naysayers, people that said they were obsessive, people that doubted their actions and then wanted to repeat those same things once they saw that success as you brought up. So it is really staying true to what you want, but then recognizing that when you feel the need to defend, you’re also putting doubt in your own mind, which then makes it harder to replicate the habits that you really want, which goes back to your whole thing of you got to go in with the game plan, you got to think through all these sort of plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G, all the different mindsets that might even come up with that. Even what game plans you’ve tried in the past that you’re trying to force again in a different mold that didn’t work out and why they didn’t work out. Because it might be that the actions actually didn’t work or that the mindsets weren’t there behind them.

Michelle (09:48):
Yes, and I think, so there’s a few things to even go about establishing those boundaries, like things that you want to consider when you’re going through, whether it’s deciding what is your goal going to be? Is this going to be a day that you just don’t track? Is this going to be a day that you are going to as you put, Hey, I can actually easily hit all my macros this day and just make some tweaks along the day to do that. Is it going to be you have a calorie goal and a protein goal and that’s going to be what you focus on? Are you going to pre-plan and maybe eat a little bit more protein, a little lower carb because you plan to maybe have more carbs at the event? There’s lots of ways that you can go about doing this that is hopefully going to feel right for you.

(10:30):
And again, it can change. Are we going to limit alcohol? Are you going to to just have one drink? Are you just going to avoid the alcohol at the event? Those are all the things that you want to consider and it’s going to change from event to event, but also it’s going to help you find your balance of what’s really going to be worth it to you. And the number one thing is your goal is what you value. Not everyone’s going to see it the same way, and that’s okay. Not all of us are going to value our goals the exact same. And so yeah, you are going to be a little bit different and that’s okay, but oftentimes there’s other things that we can go about to also deflect some of the attention in these scenarios, and we’ll even cover that in a little bit as well. Well, I want to go right into

Cori (11:11):
That because I think deflecting is a very important thing to think about how you’re going to say no to something because we so often think, oh, I’ll just say no. And sometimes you know what? Just being like, no, I’m good is the right way because in any defense, any like, oh no, I’m good, I ate more earlier. That then makes us question our own decision or makes it more awkward or gives them almost room to question us because we’re introducing doubt. So sometimes yes, just saying no is good, but there’s also a lot of ways to just strike your balance and not have anybody notice. There’s been lots of times like, oh, I’ll grab some in a bit. I’m busy right now. I want to go over and talk to X person. Or before I do that, tell me this story. There’s lots of ways to change the subject, keep connection, keep the other elements that you really want there. So let’s talk a little bit about ways to navigate saying no that aren’t just direct, like, oh, no, I feel awkward. I’m saying no.

Michelle (12:05):
Yes. And I’ll be honest, I’m the queen of the deflection because I’m a major people pleaser. I have a hard time just flat out saying like, Nope, nope, I’m good. And I think one of the number one things when we are going to these events, when we’re seeing those people, and I lovingly call them food pushers, the ones that are always going to make sure you have something in your hand to eat and wanting you to try everything. And one thing that I think is important that we all understand is these people, we tend to be like, oh, they stress me out.

(12:35):
They’re not taking what I value or my goals seriously. But what is important I think for everyone to remember is oftentimes these people are the ones that love you. They’re not really trying. Their goal isn’t truly to derail you. They’re trying to love on you. My grandma was probably the queen food pusher of all times. I don’t think I ever went to her house where I didn’t have a cookie or a pie or a candy that was stuffed in my pocket or put in front of me. And when I left, you better believe she was giving me those leftovers to send home too. So you have to understand, for many people, food is a love language. So when someone pushes food, it’s not that they’re really wanting you to eat, it’s really that they’re looking for that connection. They’re trying to provide comfort, they’re trying to contribute to you in some way, and food is an easy way to do that.

(13:25):
So when you say no, it can sometimes for this person, and I’m not saying this to make anyone feel guilty, but it can feel like you were rejecting them. So even if you’re not, there’s better ways that we can actually deflect or kind of make those connections without saying yes. Because again, if you’re saying no, you’re saying yes to something. And so when we are looking at those deflections, we want to really focus on the connection because in most cases that’s what their goal is, and you can do that without food. So some easy ways to say no or kind of pass it on. So if you’re wanting to say no, is being like, oh no, I’m not going to eat right now because I want to make sure I’m helping you out. Especially hostesses, they’re the queens of this. They want to make sure everyone’s being fed, being happy, but if you can step in and be like, oh, let me help you, you’re going to do two things.

(14:19):
One, you’re getting that connection with them. This is often the time where’re like, oh, you’ve worked really hard. Let me help you out in this scenario. And you are keeping yourself busy. They may see you with food because you’re helping, you may become the food pusher and may be like, Hey, what can I get for you guys? Or Let me go grab that for you or let me go set the table. The big thing at these events is keeping your hands full with something, whether it is a glass of water, whether it is you’re helping carry things from place to place, but if you can provide that, that’s going to be useful. Or it can just be like, Hey, talk to me about this recipe. Is this a family recipe? Where did you get that? Talk to me about what you did to put this on.

(15:01):
And if you can even get them to tell the story behind the food, that’s another way that we can create that connection that doesn’t actually involve you eating. Other things are just offering, or like you said, like, oh yeah, I’m really full right now, but let me see if I can have a little bit space later. Or I would love to maybe take that I’m so full right now, I want to enjoy it. So could I pack that up and take it later? And maybe that’s something that you enjoy when it fits better into your macros. And I’ll tell you, I don’t know many people that aren’t going to be pleased to be like, oh my gosh, they took the leftover, they were so excited about this. They took some of the leftover with them. So it’s another way to compliment, and even though you may not necessarily be consuming it in front of them,

Cori (15:46):
And even if you do have to or want to say no because it’s just not right for you, right, then you can still make that connection of like, oh gosh, I knew I was coming here tonight and your thing is the best, but I have to say no, I’m doing this one program and I really want to see it through. And a lot of times even that boosts to their ego that your recognition of what you want, you feel proud of owning your goals. And they also might even be like, oh, that’s really cool that you’re doing this, but there’s no questioning then. And I think that’s the important part of it’s being firm in what you want, but setting your boundaries in a way that you can still have that connection with them. You can still enjoy the party and you don’t feel like it’s the stress of you and them kind of butting heads with different things because there are times that you do just have to say no.

(16:31):
But I think taking ownership of that is really key and you are, as you said, then speaking their love language and that you’re recognizing that their thing is so good. And also sometimes you don’t say no. I think that’s an important thing to recognize that not every time when you go to an event will you say, no, you might love that pie that your aunt makes or whatever else, and you know what you work it in. Maybe your macros aren’t perfect, you go to a calorie cap, a protein minimum. Maybe you just say, Hey, I’m being overall moderate. I know this day is going to be a little off, but it could be way worse. So I’m going to create this balance with this calorie cap, this boundary for myself. And then you say yes to having that. Because maybe for you saying no, just in general, even if you’re trying to help do these other things, at the end of the day, they’re going to hand you one or it’s just going to be too much mental friction and that will cause you more pain, more discomfort than just saying yes and even having a bite or two because that’s always an option too when we get the food pushed, having the bite or two we want to work in to create that balance.

(17:28):
But sometimes you plan it in sometimes saying no can mean saying yes to the thing, you’re being pushed because that fits your balance and that actually makes you feel better overall. But it’s owning what we want and figuring out what’s the best way to handle it, not just trying to force a mold, but that lifestyle balance. I do think part of going into some of these things is that we always feel like that person on a diet restricted, and again, it’s a mindset, but it goes back to how we’ve tried to handle things potentially even in the past.

Michelle (17:58):
And I think this is so key because so often everyone kind of puts their diet on a pedestal where it’s like, the only way I can be on this diet or be working towards my goal is if I’m here and I’m perfect all the time. So that includes this day, but they’re not looking for, they have times where I was like, I’ve heard this so often. Well, I was so good, I was doing so perfect. I really don’t care about the perfect times. When I’m looking at your food, I’m actually more looking at the times where you’re like, oh, I fell off. Alright, well let’s compare it to the last time you fell off. Did we go as bad because that’s going to be the thing that actually changes the most. Yes, hopefully we can extend those periods of time where you’re hitting your goal and more consistent.

(18:41):
And of course that’s always going to be the thing, but if we can also look at those times that really lead you to these long-term fallouts, which for most people it is these type of events, these holidays where it takes them a long time to get back on track after. If we can reduce the amount of time that you’re off track or if we can be like, Hey, yeah, you maybe didn’t hit your macros perfectly, but remember last year what happened last year? How long did it take you to get back on track? Or you went in this huge calorie binge during this time, but this year you ate moderately. That’s a win and that’s going to be where true change actually happens, and that’s going to be really what pushes that will and kind of pushes you further along and closer to your journey than anything else. So it’s not always about having those perfect days or those perfect moments, it’s truly about getting that consistency and keeping the moderation. So even when you have that off date, it’s not nearly as bad as what it used to be. I think that’s

Cori (19:44):
So key. And also not to throw a wrench in the perfect plans, but what is perfect, I think the more I started to brace that there’s always room for improvement. So technically you’re never perfect. Anyway, it took a little bit of pressure off of it and I also started to realize that by trying to force the 21 day perfect plan, the six week perfect plan A, I wasn’t owning the reality of my lifestyle, which is why I kept going on a diet over actually adjusting my diet. But I realized that over the course of the year, if I were to break down the 365 days, I actually did a lot more bad things by trying to be so good, so perfect on specific days. And so once I started to strike that balance, I started to realize that overall my lows got a lot less low and the days I was eating the way I should be eating or healthier, that actually promoted optimal health got a lot better because I didn’t feel so restricted, so I didn’t swing so much the other way.

(20:35):
So I think we have to realize that the more we demonize something, we label food as bad events or habits as bad over just saying, Hey, how can I make them better? How can I make them fit my goals more? How can I make them make me feel better? The more we start to embrace that balance. You know what, when I tried to restrict dessert, I ended up eating a whole heck of a lot more sweets and sugar and all that other stuff. Then when I was like, I like dessert and then I ended up making my desserts better, it became more negotiable on times where I went out. So you’ll be surprised by how letting go of perfect and saying, Hey, I am being perfect, even if it helps you to think you have to be perfect for yourself. I’m being perfect by owning that I’m going to have this piece of pie and that I want it and is part of my balance. I’m being perfect in creating that lifestyle balance. So also shifting potentially what perfect means. If the other viewpoint of you’ll never be perfect, it doesn’t help you, right?

Michelle (21:29):
Yeah, I love that because I think one thing that I think people kind of don’t think about oftentimes is when they’re looking at these events and the things that they’re saying no to, is the effects that that’s going to have? I mean, we talked about, okay, if you say no to that dessert, all of a sudden your food noise gets a lot higher and you may be all of a sudden finding yourself, well, I said no to that dessert I really wanted, but then your food noise gets so high that you start binging on sugar just because it’s sugar and it’s around. But you said no to that one thing, so you stepped to that plan, but your plan may have been better had you been like, Hey, that is worth it to me. I know I’m going to keep my food noise. I’m going to be in more control if I enjoy that and can move on versus I said no, and now I cannot quiet the food noise.

(22:16):
And so I see that often where people will maybe say like, oh, I can’t have this. I have to say no to that, and then they say no, but then later that food noise just gets louder and louder and louder and they eventually kind of end up binging on something else that maybe they wouldn’t have enjoyed as much. And so because it’s not the thing that they’re actually thinking about, they’re not as fully satisfied. So that is also something to consider when you are creating these boundaries, when you are considering what is worth it to you is really reflect on the past when you have tried to say no or try to avoid certain things. What was that food noise like for you after? Can you strike a balance? Is it going to be a better if you actually plan in that dessert, the dessert that you’re looking forward to keep the food noise at bay?

Cori (23:04):
I think it’s also remembering that perfect is generally a highlight reel that we’re really looking back at, and it’s usually a very specific moment or short timeframe. So when we zoom out and we look at everything else, we realized not so perfect in trying to be perfect, and I bring that up because I do think you think about a vacation or whatever else, we go to that one perfect moment in life and we don’t think about, oh, well, I actually was fighting with my spouse beforehand. Then we came back and our house was flooded. We slightly ignore when we look at the highlight reel, all the other imperfect moments and don’t realize that by finding a balance and embracing them, and obviously with life, we want to look back at the good scrapbook moments, but with our diet, we want to fall victim to the highlight reel.

(23:47):
Oh, well this worked at x time. Okay, but it worked for 21 days. It worked for one month. There are 12 months in the year. There are 365 days in the year. We don’t want to get that snapshot and only focus on that highlight reel on that perfect moment. We need to often realize that when we’re saying I have been so perfect that we’re really hyper-focused and zoomed in on only a little bit of time in the grand scheme of things. And so, okay, yes, we’re perfect for this, but how can we be perfect for other seasons, other stages, other needs, other lifestyle balances to find a more perfect

Michelle (24:22):
Balance over the year? I love that. And I know we all know this, but I’m just going to say it because I think the more we say it, the more realistic it’s is. You are also comparing yourself to everyone else’s highlight reel. And it’s not. It’s human nature. We like to present our best. When you get online, you’re going to see people’s best highlights from those things. But this is why you also can’t compare. You may go to an event and maybe you have set your boundaries and someone else has a different boundary. Maybe there is a little bit, I don’t want to say strict, but maybe they have a little bit more boundaries aligned for that day than you do. That doesn’t make your boundaries any less. You have to stick to your own journey. So this isn’t a time that you’re trying to be just like anyone else because the one thing that is going to affect this more than anything truly is the mindset. We always say the body follows where the mind leads. So maybe you and the other person has very similar goals, but trying to compare your journey to them, it’s impossible because you have no idea what your mindset is compared to their mindset, what they’re valuing things differently than what you’re valuing. So just stick to making your own boundaries and not comparing to anyone else’s that is also at that event as well.

Cori (25:44):
Couldn’t agree more because you don’t know what deficit they’ve created, what workouts they’re doing, all the other aspects of their lifestyle to make them want to enact those habits. Then and again, even the mindsets, right? For one, having the thing at the party might create that reduced food noise, that balance, it might be worth it to them. Well, the other person’s like dessert. I don’t freaking care about dessert. Give me all the salty snacks, but there’s no salty snack, so I don’t care. Right? It’s finding your balance. And in that three to five takeaways for somebody who’s really like, okay, I need to assess. I want to find my balance because I know through the summer into the holiday season, I am going to be navigating these times and my goals are very important to me, but I need to find a balance, three to five

Michelle (26:27):
Big tips, takeaways for them. So the number one thing is actually sitting down and thinking of the things that you value and what you find worth it. And I’m talking think of the events. You’re going to think about the holiday time. What are those foods that you really are willing to spend some of that your calories on that is going to make you feel satisfied, make you feel like you’re truly part of the event as well? Consider what is going to be the best thing for you long-term when it comes to food noise. Ask yourself those questions. Think again. Consider past events when you have said no to things, what has that led to later? Maybe not that day, maybe that next day or maybe that weekend. Really making sure that you’re never using any event as an excuse. I’ve heard this so many times when it comes to boundary settings where it was like, oh, well, I wasn’t feeling well and then I felt stressed, and then it corresponded with this, well, I’m going to tell you I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have some stress around a holiday, some stress around a vacation traveling alone is going to cause stress.

(27:37):
So don’t use that as an excuse as to, so everything just went off. No. Take the time actually sit down and think of those boundaries, and I’m going to push it even further. Don’t just think, write it down and actually practice what you’re going to say. I’m sure as we’ve talked about this, everyone has thought of a relative or a friend or someone that’s pushing that drink, pushing that food, think about them and the best way to say no, whether it is just flat out no, or whether it is one of the responses of, okay, I’m going to redirect or reflect or connect with them in a different way. Consider the person in your life that that’s going to be your biggest thing that you need to address and truly sit down and come up with responses. You know, you know what that food item or drink or whatever is going to be that they tend to push on you. So truly be prepared, and as silly as it sounds, practice saying it. Practice Ashley taking the time to say it because the more you practice, the more you’re not going to feel on the spot and stumble. So that’s going to be my biggest advice when it comes to navigating these events is truly consider how you’ve done it in the past and what you would like to do for that particular event, and then practice how you’re actually going to say things. And I want

Cori (29:02):
To end on a slightly hard perspective slash not as positive a note to think about, but I think something that’s super key. If every day is legendary, no day is legendary. And also we value what we’ve fought for. Days become special because they actually are those unique special days. And a lot of times we say, oh, I can’t see results because there’s all these parties. Well, are all those parties really meant to be legendary? If you’re really giving into what you’ve always done at those points, what didn’t get you the results that you want? Are you really valuing what you’ve already fought for or would even saying no at? Some of things make you feel better about your goals, about yourself, about your vision, and even about the days then that you do feel are worth it to indulge. So it’s also really questioning yourself of like, am I just repeating a routine and habit that is easy or am I truly valuing special events and shifting that perspective? Because again, it’s really easy to just say, oh, it’s party, it’s this. But if every day is legendary, no day is actually special and legendary. So just remember that. Wanted to share that one perspective shift. Michelle, any closing thoughts?

Michelle (30:15):
No, I actually, I don’t want to even mess with that. I liked that saying that you just shared, so I’m going to keep it with every day’s legendary, no days, legendary.

 

Cori:

Well, on that note, have a fabulous rest of your week.

 

*Note: This transcript is autogenerated there may be some unintended errors.

The MOST Underrated Plank Exercise You’re Not Doing

The MOST Underrated Plank Exercise You’re Not Doing

by | Aug 3, 2025 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Planks are an amazing core stability move.

And you’re never above that fundamental basic front plank.

However, too often we just stick with one variation of an exercise instead of seeing the opportunity in the different options.

To progress and build on your plank and core work, it isn’t just about holding longer.

It’s about holding harder and even slight changes in your posture or position that can help you see better results faster.

That’s why I want to share how one tweak to your plank can not only improve your shoulder stability and health by strengthening your serratus anterior, but also target your abs and especially your lower abs even more…

And this one tweak can make your planks look kind of weird…It even feels kind of wrong…

It’s round your back.

Yup.

Rounding your back.

By rounding your back to perform a plange plank, you can activate your serratus anterior or those muscles around your rib cage as well as your lower abs even more.

The key to targeting these two areas is in how you round your back which is why I first want to go over form and then ways to modify and even kick the plange plank up a notch to be even more challenging!

First, how do you properly round your back with the plange plank?

Start by setting up in that basic forearm front plank.

From this position focus on pushing the ground away with your forearms to pull your shoulder blades forward and around your rib cage.

This engages your serratus anterior through the protraction of your shoulder blades, which is your shoulder blades moving away from your spine.

With rounding your mid back up toward the ceiling, your chin should slightly tuck vs straining to keep your head straight out.

As you round, think about not only tucking your ribs toward your hips, but even slightly tucking your pelvis up toward your ribs.

This posterior pelvic tilt with the round is what really engages those lower abs and even your glutes more.

Use that mind body connection to focus on what you feel working and pulling your ribs in and down toward your belly button as your pelvis is pulled up and in toward your belly button as well.

This is a great way to focus on that ab engagement as you hold.

Too often we just go through the motions with exercises, mimicking form.

Instead we want to focus on holding harder to create that shakeage and get everything working.

This mind-body connection to better recruit muscles efficiently is what helps us improve our stability and strength.

So don’t focus on holding this plank just for longer – focus on holding harder.

To modify this move and really focus on that rounding and serratus anterior and ab engagement, start off an incline.

While you can do this move from your hands and knees in a variation I call the vomiting cat, an incline is best to train that full plank position and engage everything from your shoulders to your feet.

If you need to do the modification off your knees, remember to focus on that big round up and ab engagement. I call it the vomiting cat because you want to draw in your abs as if coughing up a hairball.

This ab engagement makes this move different than the cat cow stretch you may be used to doing.

Focus on that push of the ground away to round up as you tuck your pelvis toward your ribs.

If you have a bench or can use even the edge of a couch, table or stair, you can perform the full plank variation but with less resistance on your upper body which can help.

Now if you’re feeling the plange plank and want to progress it further, there are two options I really love and both can also be modified off an incline to add diversity to your routine.

One is the Dolphin Plank and the other is the Extended Plange Plank.

The Dolphin Plank challenges your core with not only the round up to engage your serratus anterior and lower abs, but also works your abs to fight extension as you lower your hips toward the ground.

It challenges your core with movement and really works your core with both flexion but also to fight extension of your spine.

To do this variation, you’ll perform that plange plank but then lower down through a front plank to drop your hips toward the ground. Your abs will have to fight to protect your spine from extending as you dip.

Then your abs will work to bring your hips back up and as you round back up.

The Extended Plange Plank on the other hand will challenge your serratus anterior and lower abs more by extending out the length of your plank.

Walk your feet back so your elbows are out in front of your shoulders.

Your lower abs will work to really fight that spinal extension and maintain a slight posterior pelvic tilt with a longer lever.

And your serratus anterior will be challenged by not only the protraction but also elevation of your shoulder blades because of the placement of your elbows out in front of your shoulders.

Just be careful you don’t end up shrugging or overloading your shoulders. This does require more shoulder strength and stability to do.

Both of these moves can be modified off the incline.

So while they are progressions of the basic plange plank, they can also be adjusted to be used by any fitness level!

Too often we feel if we need to modify moves that we’re stuck with only certain variations BUT that incline can be a great tool to help us ultimately regress to progress all the different planking postures.

Do not write off a move just because you can’t do the full variation yet!

And see opportunity in slight changes to your postures and positions with fundamental moves to tailor them to match your needs and goals.

Do you like the plange plank? Which variation will you try next?

For fun moves and workouts you can do anywhere, check out my Dynamic Strength program.

–> LEARN MORE

Reset Your Mindset (Do You Feel Beautiful?)

Reset Your Mindset (Do You Feel Beautiful?)

by | Jul 31, 2025 | podcast

Listen:

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Transcript:

Open Transcript:

Cori (00:00):
Welcome to the Redefining Strength Podcast. Everything you need to succeed on your health and fitness journey, even the stuff you don’t want to hear. Do you feel beautiful? I didn’t ask, are you at your goal weight? Are you happy with your performance? I’m asking you if you feel beautiful in your own skin. And this isn’t an external thing, it’s actually an internal feeling. And I bring this up because we can feel beautiful at all stages and phases of our journey in life, and we should. And if we don’t, we need to take a deeper dive into what is going on inside our head. Because if we’re not pausing to appreciate where we’re at right now, as cliche as it is to say, enjoy the journey. If we’re not enjoying the journey, we’re not going to pause when we get to our goal and feel fabulous at that result.

(00:49):
We’ve worked so hard for. Yes, we do value what we fought for a lot more than what came easy to us, but we won’t see all the struggles as being worth it because we won’t ever pause to appreciate having gotten there if we’re not in the practice and habit of doing it prior. And we always think that reaching some point in life, reaching some goal will make us happy, but it’s really in the journey and in us becoming who we want to be, that we do feel more fabulous. I can tell you in my own quest to get abs, it wasn’t actually achieving abs that made me feel strong and fabulous and beautiful. It was realizing how much I could overcome. I had set this challenge for myself, and it was a challenge that was silly or vain or not that important. It wasn’t life threatening.

(01:34):
I didn’t have to do it, but I prioritize myself and my goals over other things, which for me was something I didn’t usually do. I usually put myself and my needs second. So it was prioritizing myself. It was going all in with something I thought I couldn’t achieve and proving to myself what was really possible. And through that I built so much strength. I felt so much perseverance. I felt so much resilience. I learned so much about myself that had nothing to do with getting abs. But when I actually finally got abs, I was so happy with the result. And the funny thing is they weren’t near as defined as they later would become because I wasn’t yet really fully knowledgeable in the area, but I was so proud of what I accomplished because it was something I didn’t think I could do. And I had built so much in the process, but it requires us to pause and appreciate.

(02:21):
So when I ask, do you feel beautiful? I really want you to look at the language you’re using with yourself, the mindsets you have about yourself and assess where did this all come from? Where did the self-doubt come from? Where did the talking down to yourself come from? Because if we think about how we would speak to a friend, a lot of the times we would never say those things. And we think, well, I’m being critical and being critical is good. I want to see my flaws. And yes, that’s all the case, but we have to recognize the language we’re using around those things because it’s very different to be like, oh, I’m a type A personality. And also own that or be like, I’m a type A personality. I just can’t ever let loose. There’s a difference in how speaking about our flaws that can make us feel positive about them, make us feel empowered by them, even as weird as that sounds or that can detract us from really seeing our fabulousness.

(03:09):
So I want you to take a deeper look. If you’re thinking, actually, I don’t feel beautiful, and be honest with yourself, be honest with how you feel right now. And remember, this can also change, right? We are all going to have those moments. We’re down on ourselves, what we’re doing, all those different things because we’re human. But I want you to take a look at the mindsets at the language that you’re using at why you’re doubting yourself or putting yourself down because it truly can be eyeopening. Because in building your beauty, you want to think about what is my relationship with other people? What is my relationship with myself? What is my relationship with food? With working out with all these different lifestyle factors, because so often we just keep doing some of the habits we’re doing because we’ve always done them and they seem to serve the purpose, but we don’t actually assess how are they making me feel?

(03:52):
If you don’t like where you’re at currently, your habits are what built your current situation. This is a result of all your habits prior. Your past hustle has led to your current situation. So if you don’t like where you’re at, really reflect on how these habits are making you feel. Yes, they might be easy. Yes, they might be comfortable, but are they really serving you and making you feel your best? But this assessment, as weird as it is, this reflection, which can be so hard because we’re stepping back to look at ourself and analyze our mindsets and really question where did some of the self-doubt, the self talking down to this language come from? It’s so key because that is the only way for us to realize all the really good things we have. And while it might feel like you’re sort of Pollyanna yourself, you’re thinking, but I feel like you’re faking it.

(04:38):
Even you want to say, Hey, I’m acting as if I’m a person. I want to be this person that is confident, states things in a confident way. This person that is confident talks to themself in this way. So you’re not just blowing smoke up your own butt was saying, oh, I’m beautiful. Oh, I’m this, I’m that. No, you’re looking for the things you believe and you’re also thinking about the person you want to become and all the traits that they have. And you’re telling yourself, I have these things because you’re going to prove to yourself, you do. You’re going to build them in the process of becoming that person. You can conquer so much more than you believe is really possible for yourself if you just say, Hey, I can build this strength. I can build this person because you can. But it starts with small tweaks and sort of owning where you’re at right now, even if it’s a place you don’t necessarily want to be.

(05:18):
So I would really encourage you if you had that, the question I asked, do you feel beautiful? Assess why you answered yes or no. And even all the different mindsets, language, you’re using those different things behind that and assess what beauty really means to you. What does it mean to be beautiful? It means so many different things to so many different people. But what is beauty to you? What do you want out of this life? Because again, what we want out of this life that is beautiful, seeing our own strength, that is beautiful, but I’d really love to hear how you’re doing that reflection and how you’re even taking steps to change your internal language, your internal dialogue, to be that of a friend really pushing you forward. And just remember, it comes back to acting as if you are the person you are building, because in taking those steps, you are going to become that person, but you have to believe it’s possible and that you can prove so much more to yourself.

 

*Note: This transcript is autogenerated there may be some unintended errors.

How to Build Muscle Faster WITHOUT Weights (10 TIPS)

How to Build Muscle Faster WITHOUT Weights (10 TIPS)

by | Jul 27, 2025 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Workouts

Want to build muscle?

Create progression in your workouts.

Note, I didn’t say “add weight.”

Because while weights are an amazing, and EASY, way to create progression in your training to optimize muscle growth, you can still build muscle without having access to them.

If it challenges you, it will change you.

So you’re not doomed if you’re training from home or with limited equipment.

But you do have to get created and design your workouts with purpose and strategy.

That’s why I want to share 10 tips to adjust those training variables to help you see muscle gains even when weights aren’t an option.

You won’t use all of these in every workout, but there is opportunity in the options.

Tip #1: Vary exercise postures and positions.

If a move is starting to feel too easy, you can make slight adjustments to that movement pattern to create progression and even target different muscle groups to different extents.

Take the basic push up.

You can place your feet up on a couch to make them more challenging and even target your upper pecs more.

You can lift one foot to make them more core intensive.

You can bring your hands closer in to a narrow grip to challenge your triceps even more.

You can do a pike push up over a standard to create a killer shoulder and arm variation.

All of these changes in your exact positioning and posture with the basic push up can help you progress the move and challenge your chest, shoulders and triceps in new ways.

Another way to change your posture is Tip #2: Make moves unilateral.

A unilateral move is a move done on one side or a single arm or leg exercise.

Think single leg squat or airborne lunge. Or even the tricep push up.
When you are only able to use one arm or leg, you’re basically adding weight without having any weights as that one limb is now carrying your entire bodyweight!

Unilateral moves also create more instability which can make moves harder as well.

And even if you can’t yet do a fully unilateral move, you can progress an exercise through an 80/20 variation.

You can do a stagger stance squat to build up to that single leg squat.

Or you can do an 80/20 glute bridge instead of the full single leg glute bridge.

All of these start to shift the weight to one side and not only make moves harder but also help you correct imbalances.

Tip #3: Change the range of motion of an exercise.

Increasing the range of motion of an exercise makes it more challenging while also improving your mobility.

An example of this is going from the basic split squat to the balance lunge.

By placing your back foot up on something, you create more instability but also a bigger range of motion you have to work through, challenging your legs more.

But you can also shrink the range of motion to keep muscles under constant tension.

Instead of that split squat becoming a balance lunge, you could do split squat pulses.

You’ll keep those legs muscles under constant tension without a break to challenge them.

Both can be used to your advantage and you may even find use both variations in a workout even back to back!

Which leads me to tip #4: Don’t be afraid to work the same muscle with multiple exercises in a row.

When you combine multiple moves for the same muscle back to back, you can help yourself work a muscle closer to fatigue and recruit more muscle fibers to drive that amazing muscle growth.

This is different than just doing more reps of the same move because you can use different types of exercises or even different training variables to target the muscle group in different ways and even isolate it.

It’s why I mentioned using multiple ranges of motion back to back. You may do split squats then pulses or even pulses then the full balance lunge.

That uses the change in range of motion to even further isolate a muscle group and work it to fatigue.

But you can also work an area back to back with completely different moves.

You may do a balance lunge and combine it with a single leg squat or front lunge to further target those quads.

But you also don’t have to do another compound move. You could use an isolation exercise.

Tip #5: Don’t forget about isolation moves.

Working a muscle with back to back moves, and honing in on a specific muscle with a more isolated movement, can be a great way to really push to failure and see those amazing muscle gains.

This can be especially key with a stubborn muscle group you want to grow.

Instead of a squat with that balance lunge, you could do the balance lunge and a lean back.

But you can use those isolation exercises to target a muscle that may not be fully fatigued during a compound exercise.

And you can vary when you include the isolation move doing it BEFORE the compound exercise for a bit of pre-fatigue to go into the move tired so you max out with fewer reps or an easier variation.

Or you could do it after as post-exhaust technique, to work it when already tired from the compound move.

Both can be beneficial and used based on how challenging you find the compound move you’re including!

And all of these moves you’re using, both the isolation and compound exercise can be done at different tempos, even using holds!

Tip #6: Change exercise tempo.

Not only can you speed a move up or slow it down, but you can do both through different portions of the movement and even include holds.

You could do a push up, lowering down slowly. Hold at the bottom for a count. Then push back up quickly.

Or you can choose to just emphasize one tempo or one portion of a move.

You can even include the same move done at different tempos back to back to combine it with tip #4 and work a muscle group with back to back moves.

For instance to work your legs with squats, you could start with a wall sit, then do slow 5 count eccentric squats after.

You could even throw in tip #3 and follow the slow eccentric squats with pulse squats.

But realize that the pace at which you do moves can have an impact and we don’t want to just rush through!

One of my favorite ways to perform the wall sit series I just mentioned too actually implements Tip #7: Used timed sets to increase training density.

This tip also helps you implement tip #8, use volume to your advantage

You will find when you’re training with more bodyweight based movements, more reps and sets are needed to challenge you even as you implement these other training techniques.

Own this and focus on increasing your volume, the reps and sets you do, in your training. This doesn’t mean you want to keep just adding more, but it does mean to not fear higher rep ranges.

And it’s a great reason to even use some time sets and circuits.

This can help you pack in more work but without just adding more time to your workouts.

You will also find you push past failure with moves when focusing on working for a set amount of time over just completing within a rep range listed.

With timed circuits and sets, you want to even pick a variation of a move you have to PAUSE during the interval of work to complete.

And you can increase training density for an area by doing intervals of work back to back that work the same muscle group.

This is where you could do that wall sit series I mentioned with the eccentric squats and pulses for intervals of work back to back.

Density interval workout designs like that with back to back intervals of work for the same muscle group can really help you work a muscle to fatigue and force you to do more reps than you would have if you just had a rep range to hit.

Part of working a muscle group with more volume over the week isn’t just about doing more in a single session either. It’s also about working a muscle more frequently over the week.

Tip #9: Increase weekly training frequency.

With more bodyweight based training, you can increase the volume of work you do for a muscle by doing more frequent training sessions.

Work a muscle group 3-4 times a week even to create that challenge.

Without weights, you may find your recovery time between sessions doesn’t need to be as long allowing you to get in more volume with more frequent sessions for the same area!

This can also help you be very efficient in your workouts and use a great diversity of movement types and training techniques for the same area since you have more sessions to use!

Tip #10: Get creative with equipment!

Too often we write off other tools besides weights to create progressions. But bands, sliders, suspension trainers are all amazing ways to progress moves.

They even work to challenge muscles at different points than weights do.

Like bands can create more resistance when a muscle is strongest because resistance increases as stretched over a move like the bicep curl.

They can even really make you fight to control the eccentric and slow down the tempo of that portion of the lift.

And you can even make use of certain things you have around the house to create instability or add resistance or a new challenge.

Towels for instance can reduce traction and allow you to challenge your inner thighs more with a side lunge or kneeling adduction.

But have some fun thinking of other ways to create a challenge in new way.

All 10 of these training techniques are opportunity and options. You may use all of them over the course of your week in different ways or even just a few. But they can all help you create that challenge to build amazing strength and muscle!

Want amazing workouts you can do anywhere? Check out my Dynamic Strength Program…

–> LEARN MORE

Why You’re Not Losing Fat

Why You’re Not Losing Fat

by | Jul 24, 2025 | podcast

Listen:

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Transcript:

Open Transcript:

Cori (00:00):
Welcome to the Redefining Strength Podcast. Everything you need to succeed on your health and fitness journey, even the stuff you don’t want to hear. What if the reason nothing is working is you not stress, not the plan, not the week, but you hear me out with this because it is one of the hardest things to face. But the self-reflection is the thing that we really need if we want to reach our goals. And probably the reason we’ve been struggling to see the success we want is because we’re not facing ourselves and truly taking ownership. It is really easy to place blame on everything outside of ourselves. It’s much more comfortable. We don’t like to admit that we’re wrong, but by not taking responsibility, by not doing that hard reflection on who and what we are, we are never going to own the reality of our lifestyle, and we’re never going to be able to meet ourselves where we’re at to move forward.

(00:53):
We’re going to keep forcing ideal after ideal mold after mold program and diet after program and diet on ourselves. And we’re never going to see lasting changes because we’re going to keep going on a diet versus making a true adjustment. So the hardest thing to do, and the thing we often need to do is really take a look in the mirror and look at our lifestyle, look at who we are, look at our flaws, our past failures, look at the traits about ourselves that we even really love and use those to our advantage. But we need to take that hard look in the mirror at ourselves to be able to meet ourselves where we’re at. So if you are not seeing results, instead of blaming something outside yourself, take ownership. Take that blame and say, what could I have done differently? How did I not somehow own who and what I am to be able to meet myself where I’m at?

(01:44):
And it’s not comfortable. We want to blame all other things. That’s way easier, but that doesn’t allow us to truly take ownership of our joint journey, and that’s what keeps us stuck. So I wanted to really boil these down into some steps to take, and the first step is stop skipping. The hardest part of reflecting on who and what you are. I want you to take some time today to even write down what your current lifestyle looks like. Because your results, what you have right now is a result of all of those current habits. And maybe you’ve already started to make changes. So you have to go back a little bit to assess what you were doing before those changes. But you need to remember that your current situation is a result of your past hustle. And so what we do in change right now is going to impact our future selves.

(02:31):
So take a look at your lifestyle. What does it really look like? Think about the habits that you even like. Are those really what you need to move you forward or are doing the habits that you like keeping you stuck and not allowing you to see the results that you want, but take an honest reflection and honest look at your current lifestyle. What are the habits that you are doing on a daily basis that are building the results that you have? Who and what are you in terms of your lifestyle? And what I mean by this is think about your good traits. What are your strengths? How could those be used to move you forward? What are some of your weaknesses? How are those holding you back or fighting against some of the habits that you’re trying to implement? The more we understand ourselves and our triggers, our patterns, what cues certain behaviors, the more we can really work around those things even to move forward.

(03:19):
It’s even thinking about things that are non-negotiable for us. Think about things that you really enjoy in your life. Have you always tried to cut those things out when you’re trying to make a healthy lifestyle change? And is that part of the pushback that you’re seeing? And why you always fall back into old patterns is because you’re doing something that’s too far outside who and what you are and the lifestyle you truly want to lead. And for me, as silly as it sounds, dessert was one of these things. I always would cut out dessert first. It was high calorie. It wasn’t healthy for me, but I was someone I defined as a dessert person. I like sweet. I wanted those in my lifestyle, so I would cut them out, but it would be so short term, and I really didn’t have any thought of cutting them out long term.

(03:56):
So I never saw sustainable results. And I often felt that pushback and felt restricted so much more because of trying to make that change versus embracing, Hey, I’m a dessert person. I’m a sweet person. I want to end the night with a sweet treat. So maybe how can I work it in macro friendly variations? How can I plan in that thing I want first? How can I find this balance to work this in and own who and what I am? And this can be so many different things. It’s not only dessert, it can be bigger lifestyle factors. It can also be traits. I know that I am a planner. I like to know what I’m doing. So therefore even on times where I can’t plan, how can I plan? Because I am very type A, I like to be very meticulous with my macros when I’m trying to hit them.

(04:34):
I had that all or nothing attitude, and I’ve loosened the reign since then because I embraced that I was that way at the start, and that allowed me to not feel so restricted. It allowed me to feel more choice, which then often makes things that we think you’re even non-negotiable, more negotiable. But because I knew that and I knew as a planner and I knew if I didn’t feel like I was doing things perfectly, I would fall off. I’m like, well, how can I make myself feel like I’m doing things perfectly? So that was sometimes giving myself less to focus on or it was saying, Hey, I am planning in this buffer when I’m going out to eat so that I feel like I’m still really rocking those macros. But steer into some of your traits to evolve habits around them. But that comes first with taking an honest assessment of what your current habits are and who and what you are.

(05:16):
Then recognize that all the mistakes you made in the past are data. They’re not proof of failure. They’re not proof that you stink or don’t have enough oil power. They are just data off of which you can make better decisions if you really analyze them. So often we try and run from them. We say, well, this just didn’t fail or this just failed for us. This just didn’t work. And we think about even things like keto and we’re like, well, it was low carb. That’s why it didn’t work. Okay, well, how many other diets have not worked? There’s a common thread there, and it’s you, but it’s also you responding to that thing. So maybe it wasn’t the low carb. Maybe it was the fact that you were cutting out foods you love and have you done that even if it was lower or if it was a diet that said only eat these foods, right?

(06:00):
Where else are you creating that restriction? That was the same thing as saying, I can’t have carbs. Where ultimately you wanted the food. You didn’t know how to work it in. You didn’t know your balance, and so you fell off. Really think about your past mistakes and think about how you can a, avoid making the same mistake in maybe a different form or even be plan and prepare yourself for the struggles that will come, because there are going to be hard times no matter how much you’re really trying to meet yourself, where you’re at, because we don’t want to do what we should do all the time. Even when we slightly enjoy the habits, they become sometimes too much effort if we’ve had a stressful day, a long day or we’re tired. So really assess those mistakes to plan for them because the more you even can predict something’s coming, the more when it happens, you’re like, oh, this isn’t that bad.

(06:45):
Or you have strategies to overcome it. Or when it happens and you are human and maybe you still make the same mistake, you get back on track that much faster because you’re slightly prepared for it. Even after vacations, maybe you come back from vacation, you struggle to get back on track. So you meal prep and the first time you go on vacation, that meal prep gets you right back on your healthy habits. You’re feeling really good. Maybe one time you come back from vacation and you do that same pattern thinking, okay, this was perfect last time, and you don’t get right back to that meal prep. But instead of it being weeks, it usually is you feel like you’re starting over. Maybe you have a couple days and you’re like, okay, I have this here. I can do this. Or maybe you don’t go back to the meal prep, but you eat healthy enough and you track eating out because you want to get back to the healthy habits enough.

(07:26):
Even if you’re not fully motivated to get back to your intensive ratios, maybe you hit a minimum, but there’s always improvements that you can make by owning the past mistakes that were there if you treat them like data instead of like you failing. And again, when we make mistakes, it’s the perfect time to analyze what was off in meeting ourselves, where we’re at, where do we not notice triggers of effort, not feeling worth it even because sometimes it’s even evolving habits just to match what we need. Now with a new season, maybe tracking and doing intensive macro ratios, and we even did a mini cut before vacation felt really good, but it’s a struggle to get back to those intensive ratios right after instead of trying to force them. If we find that that just sabotages us more to want to do it even less, why don’t we come back and do minimalist macros?

(08:10):
So it’s assessing where can we feel that pushback a little bit more to even proactively give ourselves permission to step or evolve? Because I think that’s another part of the problem is sometimes we feel like we’re giving in, we’re giving up, we’re letting ourselves all the hook, and then makes it even harder to make a change, and then we pressure ourselves to try and do all of it even more, and then we end up doing nothing. Instead of saying, Hey, proactively, I’m going to just give myself this because I know this will end up creating the success mindset that makes me want to do more, but recognize that mistakes are data and then embrace even these mistakes that life is going to happen instead of trying to fix everything, so to speak. Because so often we do try to force this ideal on ourselves, which ultimately only creates worse mindsets about tools, about things like tracking.

(08:54):
We feel even worse about doing them. We feel even more restricted doing them because we’re trying to force these fixes on ourselves versus embracing what is the next step for us based on where we’re at right now. But all of this comes back to self-awareness, self-reflection. The more we can take time to pause at different checkpoints to be like, how am I progressing? What is actually going on? What could I evolve the better off we’re going to be versus just saying, oh, I didn’t hit my goal. It doesn’t feel worth it. And then throwing everything out. I know it’s really hard to do in the emotional moment, but even owning that of like, Hey, this is the pattern of self-sabotage that I have when I don’t see progress. This is what I want to do. Well, how can you then address that before you step on the scale?

(09:32):
You write out all the positive things that you are seeing. Look at your true consistency. So then you can sort of say, okay, I was consistent this week. I should see the scale change. If it doesn’t, well then what am I going to do to adjust? And that way you go in just seeing that as data versus if you just step on the scale and you feel like you’ve been consistent and maybe you even weren’t, but you didn’t look at analyze the data, then you just throw everything out. Instead of saying, oh, there is room for opportunity. I wasn’t as consistent as I thought I was, or I was off in these habits. Or Here’s room for improvement. Because guess what? No matter how good you are, how perfect you are within your macros, there’s always an area to improve. Maybe you were eating things late and it was simply that you ate closer to the time that you weighed.

(10:09):
Maybe you started a new workout progression in you’re sore so that it doesn’t even have anything to do with how perfect you were with your nutrition. But it’s like in analyzing those things too, we can also assess where our mindset is. Because effort is about mindset. These things feel like a lot of effort. It doesn’t mean that we actually made a lot of changes. And so that’s where we have to break things down and embrace even evolution in things. Embrace the failures that were there potentially, or the lack of outcome that was there to create strategies, but not just turn to how can we fix this? How can we force some mold? But all this relates back again to taking that hard look and facing yourself and really reflecting on who and what you are and what your lifestyle looks like to evolve that versus going on another program. We go on a program, we’re not truly acting as if we’re not embracing the true lifestyle change that comes with reaching a new goal. We have to focus on adjusting, not just on going on a new plan. As much as that can seem like the way.

 

*Note: This transcript is autogenerated there may be some unintended errors.