TAKE ACTION
a
M
TAKE ACTION
Build Habits For That Shredded Summer Body

Build Habits For That Shredded Summer Body

by | May 15, 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. Life is constantly evolving, and at every new season we have to sometimes step back and assess what do we need now to meet ourselves where we’re at, to keep rocking those results and own lifestyle changes. So I’m super excited to be joined by Sierra, one of my fabulous coaches today to talk about how we can shift with the seasons to make sure that we’re always moving forward towards our goals. Sierra, welcome. Thanks for joining me today,

Sierra (00:37):
Cori. I’m so happy to be here and happy to talk about what the summer will bring.

Cori (00:42):
So with that being said, potentially we’ve started a new habit. We’ve built a new lifestyle. Starting in January, we’re feeling good with our progress, and then we hit the summer and all of a sudden it’s like, ooh, margaritas. Ooh, beach vacations, right? There’s all these different shifts that happen and trying to force the same old habits can backfire. How can we really start to assess what we might need to change to make sure that we’re meeting ourselves where we’re at and not losing everything that we work so hard for?

Sierra (01:15):
Great question. One of the first things I look at is planning to succeed. So you’ve probably heard the quote before, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right? And we can’t underestimate that. The summer is an entirely new season. So what we do then is assess the entire summer in total, and then we dive into what that looks like, taking everything into account and I mean everything. So one of the first things that we consider is what does your summer look like? When is your actual summer is what I like to think of. Is it May through August? Is it kind of a calendar summer? Or I’ll ask about careers. Are you an educator where your summer is actually specifically designed into your career? Or who are you actually taking into account for summer as well? Do your kids dictate your summer? Does your spouse dictate your summer?

(02:12):
Are there graduations? Are there elderly parents? Are there parents that know that you have some time off, so they’re going to take advantage of that? We take a lot into account, but it’s really more about the planning than anything that will make a summer as successful as possible. So if we can take environment into account, take your people, your loved ones, your family, your friends into account, if you take even your environment in terms of school zones or summer schools or changing populations in the gym, that’s some factors that may not be as big until you get into the situation. Lastly, we can take even climate into account and weather changes. So for example, if you are kind of prone to sickness when the seasons change, it’s going from cold to warm or if you have pollen, allergies, anything like that. If climate changes, does that affect your workouts too?

(03:17):
Does it affect when you work out outside? Are you a runner? Do you need to now work out earlier in the day to avoid the heat in the afternoon? I know in my example, I live in southeast Louisiana and we have to prepare for hurricane season, and so anytime that happens, we have to figure out how our nutrition plays a part, how our evacuation zones play a part as well to keep up with reality. The reality of planning, so I’ll put it this way, there’s not too much to plan, but we have to be realistic in what our goals are and how that can play a part in a new season.

Cori (03:55):
It’s owning the reality, as you mentioned, so that our priorities, our needs don’t also become our excuses because a lot of times it can be like, oh, well it’s too hot now in the afternoon to work out. Okay, well you can own that. You can plan for it and then you can work out in the morning. Or I have dogs stepping on my face, which wake me up way earlier in the summer because it’s all of a sudden light out. Or even as you mentioned other people, as you said that, I was like, oh, I’ve never thought about the fact that my summer extends a little bit. Because Ryan’s birthday in September is usually a time we want to celebrate. And so the more we do consider vacations, which is something we usually jump to as the only thing, but when it’s light, the weather, all these different things, the more we can make sure that we’re meeting ourselves where we’re at. So those excuses don’t pop up because that’s often the problem. We haven’t owned that. Something’s changed, and then we get to this time where we’re like, what do I do now?

Sierra (04:55):
That’s absolutely the problem, and what helps so much is drafting and creating that calendar because like you said, we take into account vacations, but we might forget that a birthday is here, that someone’s graduation is then here, and then things will come up possibly. Or you might have to do some travel that you weren’t initially thinking of. And Corey, how many times have you done it? I’ve done it myself where I then look at my schedule and say, oh my goodness, there’s a birthday this weekend and then I have to go out with my girlfriend in two weeks and then the next weekend has something and the next weekend has something. So even planning and realizing that those long weekends, like Memorial Day weekends or even 4th of July, that even those two to three day weekends do play a huge part in how you,

Cori (05:57):
But the more we own that, the more we can find different strategies to navigate those things. Because I can tell you if there’s multiple weekends back to back, it’s easy to get in the mindset of like, well, does it even matter if I do anything during the week between because I’m basically going to be bad these other times? But it’s like, no. And how you even handle that might be based on your goals, your needs at the time where maybe you do a mini cut in between those two things, or maybe you just go back to normal habits or maybe because you know won’t be as motivated. You set some minimums and there’s no right or wrong, but by having that clear calendar where you can see everything, you can determine what might be the best course of action for you. And then even in that say, oh, that didn’t work out the way I planned. I had all these great intentions to do a mini cut, but I’m actually not motivated, so I realized that it didn’t work for me. How can we navigate that to help ourselves make the most educated decisions when it comes to how to handle the in-betweens, I’ll even say

Sierra (07:00):
Great question. One of the first things I would say is research, research, research, research. A lot of times, and we always think of vacations first, but I do want to also stress that it’s all the events that I’d recommend creating a calendar and putting all together throughout the summer months, but researching your environment and where you’re going to go and what that environment has is going to be a big first step. So for example, just some that I think off the top of my head, if we’re going on a vacation, will it be hot? Will it be cold? Are you in a hotel or in an Airbnb? Are you in some place with a microwave and refrigeration that will play a part in how your nutrition comes together? Do you even have control over your nutrition or are most of your food and drinks, will they be out?

(07:50):
Is something already planned? Is it an all you can eat buffet? Is it a resort, is it a cruise? Or do you have control of maybe one to two meals that you can go grocery shopping for? Are you going internationally? Is customs going to be something to plan for, especially if you’re bringing food items. So just all the things to research and know and don’t be afraid to delegate this research by the way. I would say don’t take it all on your back. If you can delegate that research and say, Hey, I need your help to look up this country or look up these cuisines, make it fun, make it family filled so that everyone can have an idea of what you’re about to embark on. So the research is going to be super important, but that also not only plays a part in nutrition, it plays a part in workouts as well.

(08:42):
What environment are we going move in? Are we close to a gym far from a gym? Is it a hotel gym or is it a hotel gym? We know the difference. Is it a hotel room floor that we’re looking at or are you able to walk with others? Is it going to be a trip where it’s a lot of steps? Disney World looks different than a cruise. So just all the different research that is kind of the first piece of putting those plans together. And then after you research, make sure to communicate. A lot of times we’ll do the research and then we’ll think that this journey and our goals is just by ourselves, but especially with unicorns, tell your wrangler what you researched so that we can help. We have all the different tips, tricks and plans to make sure that one vacation may not look like the same as another.

(09:36):
Vacation may not look the same as a three day weekend. So everything looks different. And so we want to help you navigate what’s realistic. And then also the people around you. Like I said before, you should not be the only person with all the research in your head. Make sure to let your trip mates know what you plan to do. I’m going to work out. I’m going to walk on a beach. Would you like to join me? I’m going to moderate my alcohol intake. I’m going to have a couple because guess what? I want to have a couple. We have a lot of Wrangler classes talking about alcohol, and the big key is if you want to choose to drink, then choose to drink because you want to choose to drink. But don’t be afraid to let people on your trip know that at the end of the day.

(10:22):
So it’s going to be that communication after that research plan, how your movement works. And then lastly, create an exit strategy. How many times do you get home and nothing’s in the refrigerator? How many times do you get home and you’ve eaten a lot of salt or had some alcohol and then all I want is a salad and some broccoli and none of it’s there. So creating that exit strategy, return home with a plan. One of our coaches, Lynn actually talked about this all the time, is schedule food delivery in advance. Make sure there’s food delivered when you’re at home or have some frozen options so that you can pop in the oven, pop in the microwave, the air fryer, and then maybe go grocery shopping after that. But you can prepare with protein and fruits and vegetables, make sure you have something. So at the end of the day, that was a lot, but it’s a lot to say, do the heavy lifting beforehand, research it, communicate and plan how you’re going. Move, come out with an exit strategy and know that all of that is to benefit you and your goals.

Cori (11:32):
It’s coming back to not only what your schedule is for the summer, but what your goals are, what your priorities are, how you want to strike balance. Because I brought up the in-between and I love that exit strategy because that leads back to the in-between and how we’re handling it and how we’re getting back on track because sometimes we just go right to the vacation, right to the holiday and we think, I can’t do something on this to reach my goals. And we try and white knuckle our way through, which ultimately sabotages us. Instead of saying, Hey, I’m a cocktail girl. I want my cocktails on vacation and I’m not going to have access to a gym, so I’m going to work out on the patio that’s there, which I’ve done patio workouts, I’ve done bed workouts, I’ve done any sort of workout, I need to figure out ways to do stuff.

(12:14):
But sometimes it’s just not possible and sometimes you don’t end up wanting to do it, and that’s okay, but owning that balance to then know how you’re going to have that exit strategy, how you’re going to get back in a groove, there is no one right way. And you might even determine that how you’re handling a vacation right now when you’re really driving hard towards a goal is not how you handle it later on. And I think the more you research, the more you see the opportunity or even see some of the struggles you’re going to face, right? Because if something is too hard to do and we’re ultimately assessing it and we’re not going to do it, then plan for it, right? Even if you ideally wanted to maybe cook more meals or work out consistently or do different things, if it’s not going to be possible, the more you can own that, the more you can then strike that balance around it.

(12:58):
And I do think you hit on something so key in the communication because we need to manage our expectations, and this also means managing the expectations of those around us. If you’re going on vacation with a spouse and you’re making changes to how you’ve usually vacationed, the more you have that clarity with them and that conversation, the more they’re also going to be on board and they can find their own balance versus you both wanting to do different things and then being on vacation and be like, oh no, we’re not on the same page. And then someone ends up giving and then there’s not happiness with something. So I think communication is almost the missing piece that we don’t see people utilize enough to find their balance on vacation even or through the summer or new season. Would you say that that it’s a key component,

Sierra (13:42):
Massive component. Corey, I cannot stress how many times have we been on a trip with others and we don’t want to be the buzzkill, we don’t want to be the person that wants to be the health and fitness person. We have our goals, we know what we want to do, but we know that everyone else might have different goals in mind. There’s no reason, especially if we are traveling with loved ones who know that we are on this journey, we’re on this goal trek, we want to make sure that we’re the best beast at ever. If that’s the case, why not share it with the other people around us? It’s not to be a bus kill, it’s to own your own journey, but also find the balance. And you touched on that recently, balance is going to be key because you still want to have fun at the end of the day, you’re going on a vacation, you don’t want to squander it an entire vacation if you realize that tracking to a complete macro ratio to a normal calorie range, if you’re all the way, for example, if you’re in a caloric deficit, if we’re focusing on fiber, if we’re focusing on a bunch of different things while not on vacation, and if that is just too much to focus on while you’re on vacation, own that reality, realize it, and then we talk about how to find the balance, then do we need to set a calorie cap?

(15:03):
Do we make sure that instead of two drinks a night, maybe it’s one drink a night or have a space in between drinks, make sure that there is moderation there. Do we focus on hydration because it is a lot of heat, right? Do we make sure that we set a hydration goal and a protein goal so that it’s much better for you to hold at the end of the day? It’s not really the numbers, it’s the consistency on the numbers that are going to maintain your results. So all that to say the communication is going to be exceptionally important, especially when it’s a bunch of people on the trip that also have access to the itinerary too. Two,

Cori (15:47):
I love that you brought up the different macro options because I think we get very set in viewing habits in only one way and balance over the year doesn’t mean that every day has the same balance. It could mean on vacation being like, Hey, my balance is that calories don’t count. But knowing this and the impact that’s going to have, no, I’m not going to make the excuse that every day is legendary and special and I can do this every day. That’s not giving yourself grace, that’s giving yourself an excuse, but you could say, Hey, this vacation to X place is really special or this holiday does mean a lot to me and so I’m going to strike a balance around it. Going more intensive with the macro ratios, focusing on fiber, focusing on quality foods and then saying, no, maybe I’m not tracking off of that. How do you navigate different options? I know you brought up the calorie cap and the protein minimum, but how can someone be not on their phone tracking if they’re on vacation and that doesn’t feel like the right balance for them, but still holding themselves accountable,

Sierra (16:47):
That’s where their communication comes in again. So obviously talk to your Wrangler. We have different strategies, especially we want to make sure that the balance is there that you’re not having to figure out and play Tetris with macros all at the dinner table. So for example, hand portion guide comes into play. We make sure that we can see what your meals are even tracking in different ways. If it’s not on your standard tracking software, maybe it’s taking pictures. Pictures are also important, and by the way, it’s a twofer because when you take pictures, you also have pictures of your vacation and trips. And a lot of times you’ll see that a lot of foods are very nice and pretty and with a lot of accoutrements. So it’s a twofer and it’s a win-win situation right there. So you can take pictures, you can plan your meals in advance.

(17:39):
Maybe the ones that you have more control over than others if you would like, maybe it’s the same breakfasts, maybe it’s the same lunches or it’s the same breakfast, the same snack. So that dinner can be a choice. Maybe it’s the calorie range and the protein range. Maybe you only track protein. I would say make sure that you at least track or do something. If you track and do something, you can then have reflections afterwards as opposed to an entire vacation, an entire weekend or an entire trip, kind of just going over our heads. Maybe have something tangible and some data that you can then return back to a year from now, maybe 20, 27 in the summer and say, Hey, this is what worked and this is what didn’t. So now I’m going to use what worked and I’m going to go 1% better and still be able to enjoy myself. So at the end of the day, I make sure to track something, make sure that you have a plank on what to track. But there are tons of ways to follow macros. Hit protein without having to go completely in your phone and miss out on all the beauty of your vacation trip in summer.

Cori (18:54):
Please, we know you’re taking pictures of your food anyway to post to Instagram. I mean, we all do it. We’re all guilty of it. But I love that because it’s even a memory for future plus. It’s that accountability, and I think what you touched on in there is so important of even the 1% improvement for next year, but meeting yourself where you’re at right now was something you’ll feel successful with because I do think a lot of times we think in ideals of ideally what we’d like to do and we don’t own. Again, this goes back to doing the research planning ahead and the more we say, Hey, what would make me be 1% better this summer? The more we meet ourselves where we’re at, and we do those improvements and then because we feel successful with them, we even want to do more. Because we might say it’s not possible to track on vacation, but if you’re taking a lot of trips, maybe there are some vacations that aren’t meant to be as much as food trips.

(19:46):
Or maybe there are days in that vacation where you’re like, Hey, I have more control. I can be a little bit more consistent and every day doesn’t have to be this legendary day and it makes the other days even more special. But there’s different ways to really strike that balance and make those 1% improvements so we can keep moving forward. So off of this, thinking about the different seasons, how would you, again, summarizing all the great tips you’ve given, how would you really tell someone to get started making the assessments? They need to understand that stuff does shift with the summer. That’s not a bad thing, but we’ve got to focus on meeting ourselves where we’re at.

Sierra (20:26):
First things first is you have to know where you’re, so especially things like roadmaps and how do we know where we’re going? If we don’t know where we are right now, make sure that you understand. Are you in a caloric deficit? Are you trying to lose body fat? Are you at maintenance? Are we building? Are we bulking? Are we trying to gain strength? So know what your goal is first and foremost, and know that whatever choices you make, own those choices. Knowing that choices no matter what, have consequences and that could be beneficial or that could be not as beneficial towards your goals. So the more that we know where we are and where we want to go, we can then plan how the summer and how these months are going to impact it. Just know for example, if we want to go out of town, we want to have fun, but we also want to continue to lose weight, then there are going to have to be some choices that you might have to make.

(21:24):
And what we want to do and what we want to do, don’t always meet and agree. So for example, what we want to do with our goals and what we want to do when we’re out on vacation might clash. So then what’s our priority? Hopefully it’s goals. So we might have to make those decisions based on the research, based on the communication, based on how we put plans together. So best place to start is know where you are and then know where you want to go, especially all throughout the summer. Summer is a time where we might not be wearing as much fabric or clothes. So that’s already a great, great strategy in terms of, okay, I might need to figure out what ratios or what hydration I need to stick with to make sure that in my summer months I can wear short sleeve shirts and feel phenomenal in these summer months.

(22:20):
I want to wear a bikini and I want to feel phenomenal. So that’s where knowing where you are, also planning how you are going to go through month to month and every event is going to look different. Corey talked about it even within the same event, every day will look different too. So will there be some days where maybe you can focus on the food and then maybe there are some days where you don’t focus as much on the food, but all of that compounds and it snowballs and it snowballs. We just have to make sure that it’s not multiple setbacks in a that when you come out of the summer, now we’re five steps away from our goal. So start with knowing where you are and then know where you want to come out of the summer with, and then all of the things in the middle, we talked through the details there

Cori (23:14):
And you hit on the most important word and mindset with it is choice. We have a choice every time we’re presented with how we want to handle something and how we handle it in a specific situation or season of even our goals might be different than how we want to handle in the future. And instead of seeing that as restrictive even, or maybe even against our goals, we just see it as the balance we’re creating and recognize that we can always make a different choice at a different time. And the choice we make, this might not ultimately work, and that’s okay, but it’s making those small changes because if we do too much, we also have to recognize the sabotage that can create despite the fact that we have really good attention. So it’s always sort of balancing everything on that. Any other closing thoughts? This has been fabulous, Sierra.

Sierra (24:06):
Just one. I am no expert at the summer, but I do love to talk through and all of the wranglers love to talk through different seasons and what struggles it might create and might bring about. So not only have we gone through different seasons and how they change, but we’ve also coached others through how to navigate the seasons and how to be even realistic and celebrate the wins that come out of these seasons. So think my final words are make sure that you have the reflections out of the season once it comes to August and September, once we start to trail and transition into the fall, either have it written down or notated how this summer was, that can be based on, you can do journals in the reflections, pieces of the playbook pages. There are so many places that you can actually write down how that summer went.

(25:02):
What you never want to do is go into the next summer, make the same exact decisions and choices, and then we’re in the same place. Again, those reflections will be important. Don’t forget that, but also avoid overcommitting. And this is one that I personally struggle with is a lot of times we’ll have events that are on our calendar ready to go, and then how many times has this happened? Friend comes up, says, Hey, you want to go out for X, Y, Z? Oh, hey, we got a three day weekend. And it’s typically the friends that do not plan by the way, but they’ll say, Hey, you want to come to do this? Let’s go here, let’s go there. You have a choice to say, okay, let’s do it, but I need to do this while X, Y, and Z. You could even say, Hey, I’m good for today.

(25:51):
Let’s plan something out in July or August so that I can still spend time with you. It’s not going to work for right now. So avoid overcommitting to every single event that pops up and comes your way as I wrangler. Liz, let me know earlier this week, a great way to say it is say yes to less, and that way you can have the room to enjoy yourself without feeling like you’re always having to do something, especially in the summer that it would be a lot. And the last but not least, ride the waves. There is so much, so much, so much that can happen and there’s a lot of planning that you can do, but not everything always happens the way that we plan. And that’s okay. Ride the waves, continue to have fun. Enjoy your loved ones, enjoy the people around you. Be present in the moment. And then we come out on the other side and then we talk about how to keep trucking in 2025.

Cori (26:52):
I love it. And that reflection component does make us learn from everything. It helps us find a better and better balance. As you mentioned, we’re all constantly evolving that balance. I know my summer balance is different than it was the previous summer because I’ve learned from mistakes and things I really liked, and we are just enjoying life as we’re trying to move towards our goals. So Sierra, thank you so much. This was so helpful guys. Would love to hear what really resonated with you, how you are planning ahead for the summer months and really meeting yourself where you’re at. But thank you Sierra. Have a great rest of your week.

 

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

“I Don’t Have Time To Workout”

“I Don’t Have Time To Workout”

by | May 11, 2025 | Blog, Exercises, Workouts

“I don’t have enough time.”

Sorry I’m calling BS on this one.

And before your storm off clicking back, hear me out…

What we value, we prioritize.

And what we prioritize, we MAKE time for.

We FIND the time.

Yes, there are finite hours in the day, but we give up some of our endless Instagram scrolling.

Or we find a way to still do SOMETHING.

We stop focusing on an ideal and instead focus on what is truly possible where we are at RIGHT NOW.

Because something is better than nothing and 5 minutes pays off.

That’s why I want to share not only 3 tips to help you get that workout momentum building, MAKING the time, but also 3 tips to help you truly design for the time you have.

Because feeling fabulous and moving well doesn’t have to be a full time job!

So first…how can we make the time in our crazy, busy schedules?

And no, the answer isn’t just sleeping less or cutting out things you love to do even if you know they may be…well…time wasters…

Actually the first way to make time for your training is to combine your workouts with some of those mindless activities you love!

Yup.

Tip #1 is…Don’t sacrifice things you enjoy – CONNECT THEM!

Love scrolling Instagram or TikTok? Love bad reality TV shows? Use those as times to go get in a walk. Or do your mobility work. Listen to a podcast as you workout.

Use your workouts oddly as a time to multitask.

Because so often we feel like to fit in the things we know we “should” do, we need to give up things we just want to do to relax.

But we don’t have to.

By connecting these two things, you’re sacrificing something you want to do, but you’re also making potentially the training you don’t want to do something you want to do…and GET to do.

You may make yourself look forward even more to that time for YOU. And the more you value that time, the more you’ll prioritize the habit!

Tip #2: Use stolen moments. Take movement snack breaks.

Sure maybe a 30, 40 or even hour long session is “ideal.” But if that’s not possible and is mentally stopping you from starting anything, realize you don’t need it.

Use the moments you have.

5 minutes in between meetings, do a couple of stretches and a loop around your office.

Need to get up to get more water? Do 10 bodyweight squats.

Yes, we want progression to our workouts and a clear plan in place as much as possible for the fastest results, but even small actions beat a perfect plan…

Because so often we use not being able to do the ideal as an excuse to do nothing. And no action means no progress.

Not to mention, action creates more momentum and more action.

When you feel positive and good about the habits you are doing, you want to do more of them.

And even 5 minutes throughout the day can add up and add up fast.

Consider even accounting for those stolen moments to have a plan for different lengths so you can create some clear guidelines to help yourself build.

Start even setting an alarm or calendar event to get you in the habit of doing 5 minutes.

Because 5 minutes becomes 15 becomes 30 becomes forward momentum that makes you want to prioritize the habit more and more.

And suddenly, you find there is more time than you realized in your day because you’re not faced with the daunting task of setting aside an hour all at once!

Then Tip #3: Focus on frequency first.

We get good at what we consistently do. The more we have that set time daily that we workout at, the easier it is to get in the groove and habit.

This may sound counterintuitive BUT…

It may be better to do 10-15 minutes a day to start over trying to do an hour 3 times a week.

And it’s all because of the groove and habit it gets us into.

With the short daily sessions, you can have a clear pattern you create and a shift in your environment. The repetition daily for a few weeks can build that consistency to create that discipline.

From there, you can adjust maybe two or three sessions to be longer and even shift some of the shorter ones to just be recovery.

But more of less to start may be the key to helping that momentum snowball.

Now that you’ve made the time, you have to design for the time you have so your training sessions are as effective as possible.

Because often we feel like 5-10 minutes can’t pay off. But it can, if used strategically.

Here are 3 tips to maximize those minutes…

Tip #1: Set a timer.

When we don’t have clarity on how long something will take, we may skip it when we have a hard stop time or deadline. By creating timed routines, you know you’ll get everything in.

That clarity creates comfort.

If you have 5 minutes, set a timer for 5 minutes with 3 moves you cycle through during that time. Then you’re done.

If you have a minute, do a minute of foam rolling or stretching even. Heck a minute of burpees will destroy you.

If you have 15 minutes, create a circuit of 5 moves you do for 1 minute each and repeat the series 3 times.

So many ways to use that timer to help you be efficient.

And not only will you know you’ll be able to get in the workout you’ve designed, but having that set timeframe can help you strategically include moves and reps and sets to your advantage.

It can help you pick exercises that will really challenge you. It can help you decide which muscles to work to make the most of every second.

It gives you a focus for the session to optimize it.

Then Tip #2: Use compound moves.

Work more muscle groups in a shorter amount of time to build more muscle while burning more calories.

Compound moves are multi-joint movements that work multiple muscle groups at once. These are more efficient than isolation exercises that work only a single muscle at a time, making them better to help you work your entire body when time is an issue.

You can also move heavier loads with compound moves which can help you build strength and muscle more efficiently.

When designing your workouts focus on exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, push ups, pull ups, bench press, rows over bicep curls or leg extensions.

And then cycle the areas worked over your workouts to avoid having to rest so you can get the most work done in the shortest amount of time.

While rest is key to us being able to work at a higher intensity in our training, we can use active rest to our advantage when we’re short on time.

To allow one muscle to rest as another works, make your workouts more full body and alternate moves for different muscle groups.

In your circuit, think squat, push up and row as your 3 moves over squat, lunge, step up.

The second never gives your legs a chance to rest so you’ll see your intensity dip as you even have to modify or lighten loads whereas your legs get rest in the first during push ups and rows.

And Tip #3: Don’t work to failure.

While it is tempting to try to max out the reps on a move each round, this can cause you to actually have to slow down and rest more or modify moves to keep moving.

Instead stop a few reps short of having to rest and move on to the next exercise. This can lead to you being able to push harder for each rep you do and make the work you do more quality.

It can help you even do more reps over the 5 minutes you have over having to pause because you’re tired, slowing you down.

You can also often lift heavier by keeping the reps lower. Over the 5-10 minutes, 5 reps at a time can really add up to more weight lifted than if you went lighter to be able to do 10 reps!

The key is strategically designing for the time we have over focusing on an ideal.

And all of this starts with owning that we can’t change how many hours in the day we have, but we can find ways to shift our priorities to MAKE the time to see the results we want!

For workouts you can do anywhere, and that will fit your crazy busy schedule, check out my Dynamic Strength program:

–> LEARN MORE

How To Become The Best Version Of Yourself

How To Become The Best Version Of Yourself

by | May 8, 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. Act as if I want to talk about four ways to help you become the person that you want to be. And I say, act as if and really differentiate this from fake it till you make it because there is a big mindset shift that happens when you think I am acting as if I am the person I want to be versus I am faking the habits. Just that word fake means that you’re not embracing them, that you don’t believe in them. And I realized the big difference between these attitudes when I was first starting redefining strength. I’ve actually noticed it multiple times throughout my life when I went to college and I was told I wouldn’t play because I was the lowest recruit.

(00:44):
And I decided I was going to act as if I was the top recruit that year and going to play, and I ended up playing. But I also saw it when I first started redefining strength. And I was telling myself, I’m not that person in front of the camera, which you might not believe now. I’m not that person to take the photos. I’m not that person to do X, y, and Z thing. And ultimately it was a big push from Ryan, my butthead and my partner in crime, my now husband who at the time I was dating, and he said, if you’re going to do this, you need to step in front of the camera. You need to embrace all these different things. And I thought to myself, that’s not who I am. I’m the nerdy kid at the back of the class. And then I realized I hadn’t been that person for a while.

(01:20):
That going to college, I decided I was going to be more outgoing, that I wanted to change the way I interacted with people, my social setting, my social appearance. So I started shifting my identity at that point, and I had embraced acting as if it wasn’t faking anything, it was just saying, Hey, this is the person I want to be. What traits, what actions does this person take? And so with starting redefining strength, I realized, okay, I have to step in front of the camera. I have to get comfortable doing these things. And it’s not easy to start, but I realized I was acting as if I was the person that I wanted to be. And at some point it becomes just who you are. And I wanted to give you some tips and perspectives to help you also embrace that mindset shift. Because change requires change.

(01:58):
And if we’re constantly fighting back against the changes, we’re never going to see the new result that we want. And in acting as if we are choosing to really create the new habits, embrace the new habits that align with the identity of the person that has the goals we want. Because when we are trying to reach a goal, it’s not just losing the weight, it is becoming the person that has the lifestyle that maintains that weight loss even long-term. So tip number one, embrace the discomfort and show up anyway. A lot of times when we are acting as if it does not feel natural, it does not feel normal, but we have to start shaping even our mindsets because that’s the thing. We a lot of times put actions on ourselves, put tasks we should do on ourselves, put habits we should do, but they aren’t aligned with what we’re actually thinking.

(02:42):
And that’s where the disconnect happens, where we don’t embrace those things, we go on another diet plan versus adjusting our lifestyle. So as you start to think who is this person that has the life, has the goals that I want, and how can I act as if you need to recognize that it’s going to be very uncomfortable times or discomfort as I like to say, because it makes you sort of smile and embrace it a little bit more. And again, mindset is key, but we want to think about how can we show up as that person every single day? How can we take those actions? How can we not mentally rebel against the changes that we really need to make? And I think it’s key that we recognize that a lot of times when we say I can’t, it’s not actually that we can’t. It’s really us saying to ourselves, I’m not comfortable being uncomfortable in that way.

(03:28):
And that’s where we have to push back. We have to challenge ourselves to be like, well, why am I not comfortable being uncomfortable in this way? Why do I believe I can’t? Where am I feeling the pushback from the hard so that I’m not wanting to embrace this habit? Not wanting to embrace this mindset. And a lot of times we’ll say, well, nothing’s ever worked before or this hasn’t worked before. And we’re dooming ourselves with doubt because we don’t truly know what’s possible and where we are right in this moment isn’t where we once tried this habit even before. And that shift in lifestyle, in mindsets, in beliefs, in anything in our environment can really make something that even didn’t work before work now or the way we approach that habit change can be different now because of other factors. So we want to think about even though the action is awkward, how can we embrace one small change and be comfortable with that small change?

(04:18):
How can we push into the hard just a little bit more? Because growth really does mean taking action before we’re ready. Then tip number two, set identity driven habit goals. So when we’re thinking about it, we want to think about, okay, what’s in line with the ultimate identity that I need that I would like to call destination be set. It is our dream identity, so to speak. Now looking at the reality of who you are, you might be like, oh goodness, that’s actually quite a far journey to the identity I want to embrace. And I don’t think I can get there in one step, but what’s one step you can take today to move forward on that path? Because often we just see the end destination and think, I’m so far from that. How do I get there that we don’t see the one clear action we can take right in front of us?

(05:06):
So as you’re setting identity driven habit goals, don’t only think about where you want to go, think about that identity enough to have that outlined, but then take it back to where am I currently? What does my current lifestyle look like? Because the more we meet ourselves where we’re at to take that one step forward, the more likely we are to ultimately get there. Habits can be broken down into so many different ways and we can build upon them. If you have to eat 130 grams of protein in one day and right now you’re eating 90, maybe it’s not realistic to just go revamp all your meals because you’ll feel miserable. You’ll reject the habit so to speak, because you have to do such a big increase. Maybe you’re like, okay, I’m eating 90 grams right now. How can I eat 95? How can I eat a hundred?

(05:44):
How can I make one small shift that is towards the identity that I want to build? And that’s really where the magic happens. And this can feel weird, and I can tell you I always believed I wasn’t a goal setter. I resisted New Year’s resolutions. I’m like, oh, I don’t like setting goals. And I realized it was because they weren’t driven by action. A lot of times they were just wishes and dreams. But when you’re outlining that identity and you’re understanding the habits it takes to be in that goal identity that you have, you’re giving yourself action items and then you can list those out and break those down to really help yourself move forward. But it is about giving yourself even those micro goals so that you can see the little habits adding up. It is about really anchoring yourself in where you are now with that clear vision of what that lifestyle really looks like.

(06:29):
And remember that all of these habits that you’re taking on a daily basis, our votes for who you want to become, they’re all what truly creates the goal, even though you can’t see it snowballing right away, but the little actions and if we can celebrate those wins, they reinforce the identity we’re building. Then tip number three, create minimums so you always move forward. I am big on doing the minimum, and don’t get me wrong, I like to see results as fast as possible and complain with the best of them about how results aren’t happening fast enough, even when I know the reality of results in achieving body recomp and achieving different fitness goals. But we have to remember that the minimums are what ultimately move us forward. It’s not doing a perfect plan at the perfect time. We all do that. We all get really good at dieting down because in January we get motivated and we do these six week shreds and 21 day fixes, but ultimately we only are good at dieting down and we never learn to maintain because life shifts, we don’t have that perfect time anymore.

(07:29):
We can’t just be on this perfect plan. Life happens and we don’t know what to do. And that’s where minimums really come into play. It’s about making our lows less low because the more you can do at the worst of worst times, the more you’re going to be able to do at perfect times. And if you can make your lows less low, trust me, your highs are going to get higher. So really consider the minimums that you can do. Minimums are what make us disciplined and disciplined is what creates that identity because we’re replicating those habits without thought. So as you’re going through thinking about the changes you have to make, if you’re starting to feel that the effort doesn’t feel worth the outcome, think where am I maybe doing a little bit too much right now that is pushing you back against other priorities in my life or other things that I value, or even just the time that I have and the schedule that I have, which time comes out of what our priorities are?

(08:16):
Because our priorities, if we don’t own them, become our excuses, but consider what the pushback is against. Is it against you cutting out a non-negotiable? So how can you do the minimum? How can you do a little bit more than what you’re doing right now to move forward? How can you even scale back a habit that’s feeling a little bit too hard to stick with something that’s still an improvement? Because in those improvements, not only are we changing our habits ultimately to take steps forward towards that person we want to become, we’re acting as if, but we’re shifting mindsets because we don’t recognize that the more you do, the more you do. And that success mindset builds through what we accomplish. And when we feel like we’re not being successful with something, we doubt the habits even more. Our mindset becomes a negative one, which makes us shift into not taking the actions we need and defaulting back into the comfortable.

(08:58):
So remember that these minimums aren’t just about the habits that you’re building that are transforming you and are pushing you on that journey to the identity you want to become. They are you acting as if, but they’re also creating that success mindset and that mindset helps you more embrace that new identity, helps you truly believe that you’re acting as if, and again, not just faking it till you make it. Then tip number four, take full ownership whether you want to recognize it or not. Ultimately, you are in control of who you become. Yes, life throws things at us and we can’t always control every event that comes our way, every situation we find ourselves in, but we can always control our perspective. We can always choose to see it as obstacle or opportunity. We can choose to learn from it or we can choose to give up.

(09:40):
We can ultimately always choose how things impact us and how we respond. And again, in acting as if when you’re hit with something hard, when you’re hit with something unexpected, think about that identity that you’re building. How would that person act in that situation? When you find yourself defaulting back into your natural response, your comfortable response, the response you’ve always done, the routine you’ve always repeated, pause, assess, take ownership of this opportunity to make a change and will it be easy? Oh no. It goes back to tip number one. You’ve got to embrace the discomfort, but you’ve got to really see it as that opportunity and vote big vote for who you want to become because those hard points, the points where it would be so easy to default back into what is natural to self-sabotage when we’ve always self-sabotaged to go to the cupboard and grab out cookies or chips when we’re stressed because that’s what we’ve always done at those points.

(10:30):
That’s where we can take that big leap forward into our new identity by pausing and really pushing into the hard. But it means taking ownership versus blaming things outside yourself. Well, it was a stressful day at work. Well, this came up well, this is just the pattern I’ve always done. This is who I am. No, this is who you were. But take ownership. Take time to recognize that you have this opportunity to act as if and shift those mindsets because we are what we believe, whether we want to recognize it or not. And we don’t often realize the tapes sort of playing in our head, but it’s playing. And the more we can pause and build that self-awareness, the better off we’re going to be. But reflect on the failures, reflect on the learning experience, reflect on the good things that happen. Too often we’re like, yay, I did it, and then we just move forward versus being like, how did I do this?

(11:15):
How can I repeat more of this? How can I embrace whatever happened here? The magic to use more of this in other areas, but take ownership and really use that reflection to learn a lot about yourself, both good and bad situations. So with all of this and acting as if, I want you to really take a step back because I think in making some of these changes, we think, oh, well, I’m bad at this. I’m bad at tracking. I’m bad at being consistent with my workouts. I’m bad at this. No, you are not bad. You just haven’t practiced it yet enough. And in acting as if we are practicing consistently and we’re going to still make mistakes, but we’re practicing to learn to get it right, then we can’t get it wrong and then until it is who we really are, it’s a big part of our being.

(11:58):
But remember, you have to practice to get better at something, and that means embracing that you are going to make mistakes that you are going to have to learn. And there is no right time to start. The right time to start was probably yesterday. The next best time is right now because the more you, again, learn to do the minimum at times that don’t feel ideal, the more you’re going to be able to feel strength and confidence in what you can overcome, but also move forward when times are really good and capitalize on those perfect periods to do a little bit more to see results a little bit faster. So I want to encourage you act as if outline what that identity you have to embrace to have the goals you want to have really looks like. Then take a step back to look at where you are right now and start connecting the dots with little steps forward and little habit changes and little mindset shifts, but you’re not faking anything. You are truly embracing the habits and actions that you need to take and how your mindsets have to shift to really promote and believe in those things because that is how you’re going to act as if to become the person you want to be.

 

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

Do You Do This During Ab Workouts? 5 Mistakes You Might Be Making

Do You Do This During Ab Workouts? 5 Mistakes You Might Be Making

by | May 4, 2025 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief, Workouts

Feel like your ab workouts aren’t paying off? This video’s your missing link.

Because harder moves don’t mean better results.

We can be doing all the “right” exercises—and still not see the payoff.

Why?

Because we’re compensating. Letting our hips or lower back take over instead of our abs doing the work.

And when that happens, we start to blame the moves—even the ones we should be doing.

We write them off because they cause pain. But it’s not the move. It’s how you’re doing it.

So let’s fix that. Let’s stop the aches and pains. Let’s make sure every rep actually builds the strong abs you’re working for.

Here are 5 common ab training mistakes—and how to fix them.

MISTAKE #1: Doing moves you haven’t earned.

Moves need to fit our current fitness level, needs and goals. When we do exercises we haven’t earned, we end up using the incorrect muscles to power the movements.

This is why we can end up feeling our lower back or hip flexors over our abs working during certain core movements.

Too often we then try to put a bandaid on the issue to power through.

Doing a harder move is better, right?

WRONG!

Regress to progress.

Modifying a move doesn’t mean making it easier on yourself – it means allowing yourself to optimize the exercise.

A prime example of this is putting your hands behind your lower back during leg lower exercises.

Placing your hands under your lower back might feel better in the moment, but it’s not teaching you to properly control the exercise and brace your abs.

Instead of putting your hands behind your lower back to cheat and do a move you haven’t earned, learn to properly brace by regressing to the pelvic tilt hold.

Then build back up.

Learn to truly engage your abs through that tuck of your pelvis toward your ribs. This will protect your lower back and allow you to use your abs to stabilize, even engage your glutes as well.

When you can control this hold, you can then begin to add back in movement, using a pelvic tilt with march.

Then a double knee tuck before building back to a single leg lower and finally the full double leg lower movement.

By building up the right way, you’ll actually work your abs and be amazed at how much stronger they get.

Don’t let ego in doing a harder move hold you back.

MISTAKE #2: Demonizing spinal flexion moves like crunches and sit ups.

Crunches and sit-ups often get written off and even demonized.

But these bodyweight basics work our abs through spinal flexion. Something that planks or big heavy lifts don’t do.

It’s our abs’ job to power that rounding of our spine so we want to include moves that train it.

The key is using these moves correctly so that we don’t rely just on our hip flexors or end up overusing our lower back.

Spinal flexion is about thinking of the curl or roll up of one vertebrae at a time.

Starting out, you may find crunches are easiest to control as they are a more isolated movement. You’re only having to really focus on your abs powering a smaller range of motion to flex your spine and lift through your shoulder blades.

Really focus on your abs curling your upper back off the ground as you press your lower back down into it.

The crunch can really help you focus on that ab activation and mind-body connection because it is so isolated.

Then you can start to move into sit ups, learning to control the full roll up.

Too often with sit ups we just, well, sit up, letting our feet flop around or using momentum, even swinging or arching back overhead when we lay down.

Instead slow things down and think about rounding forward as you reach toward your toes to roll up. Then slowly lowering one vertebra at a time back down

But don’t avoid training this movement pattern. It may not only be the key to getting the amazing strong and defined abs you want (with your diet dialed in of course) but may even help you avoid back pain in your other lifting exercises!

MISTAKE #3: Not focusing on the correct muscles working.

Often we are including many of the “right” core moves, we’re just trying to mimic what we think is proper form and not performing the full exercise or using the correct muscles to power the full movement.

It goes back to mistake #1…we’re trying to do an exercise we haven’t earned so we cheat.

We do leg lowers where we aren’t bracing our abs properly with the posterior pelvic tilt so we’re only really using our hip flexors to lift and lower.

Or we’re doing hanging ab moves and not actually curling our knees toward our elbows by rounding through our spine, we’re only bending and extending at our hips to tuck our knees up.

If you feel your hip flexors working during these reverse crunch or leg raise movements, your hip flexors are what are getting worked. Not your abs.

This perpetuates aches and pains and makes all of our hard work not pay off the way it should.

And even backfire. Because not only can this lead to hip flexor issues, but tight, overworked hip flexors can perpetuate our lower back pain.

Focus on that true spinal flexion. The posterior pelvic tilt is spinal flexion with that tuck of your pelvis toward your ribs.

That curling of your knees toward your elbows as you hang is spinal flexion.

Focus on that movement and regress to progress if you need so you can.

Try an incline ab variation or even lying reverse crunch with overhead hold. But train the proper movement and recruitment pattern.

Don’t just focus on doing the move, focus on what you feel working!

MISTAKE #4: Training to fatigue over using frequency to your advantage.

Have you ever just thought, “I just need to get through the moves!” then rushed through the exercises while tired knowing you were a bit sloppy?

Quality matters. Yet so often we focus on quantity.

We seek to be sore and tired.

Instead of trying to destroy your abs in a workout and do a ton of reps and sets, lower the volume and train them more frequently over the week.

And have a clear set routine you repeat each week, don’t randomly string things together.

While ab exercises can and should be done for higher reps, like 15-25 per set with generally lighter loads if any weight, you still don’t want to focus on just doing 100s of reps in a day.

Spread out that volume over the week. When you are fresher and less fatigued for the moves, you’ll perform a better quality of work.

You may find you are even able to do more advanced variations for all the reps than you could have had you stacked them all together.

And you put yourself at less risk for getting tired and then calling on other muscles to help you power through the moves.

Think about even just a couple of moves done for 2-3 sets 3-4 times a week even.

MISTAKE #5: Focusing on doing more over intensity.

A 2-minute plank where you’re zoning out? Not helpful.

Yet so often we focus on doing more over not only the quality but also the intensity of each rep.

When you’re doing an exercise, focus on really challenging yourself with the movement. Focus on what you feel working and engaging that muscle fully.

With bodyweight movements like the plank, use that mind-body connection to try to engage your abs, and entire core, harder to create shakeage.

Yes shakeage.

Focus on your back supporting your shoulders, bracing that core as if being punched in the gut with that slight posterior pelvic tilt. Flex your quads and drive back hard through your heels.

Don’t let yourself relax during the movement. Create that tension.

Because holding longer while cheating may make your ego feel good, but it isn’t making those abs work more.

We often end up compensating as well, which is why we feel our hips or back the next day even if we didn’t notice during.

It’s not about the clock — it’s about the tension.

You want to feel like you’re barely surviving a 15 second hold the more advanced you are over having ego in just going longer.

You want to use that more advanced ab move, even if you have to pause to complete all the reps.

Shorten the time. Maximize the effort and intensity.

Stop going through the motions with your workouts or letting ego lead to you trying to do moves you haven’t earned.

Regress to progress, focus on that quality of work and be intentional with every move you do!

This will lead to you building the strong abs you want, you can then reveal through proper nutrition!

For amazing workouts to help you build your leanest, strongest body ever, check out my Dynamic Strength program:

–> Dynamic Strength

Why Your Hard Work Isn’t Paying Off

Why Your Hard Work Isn’t Paying Off

by | May 1, 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
Download Journal Page

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. You’re doing the workouts, you’re tracking the macros, you’re working really hard, but it still kind of feels like you’re spinning your wheels. And it’s not a lack of willpower, that’s the problem. It’s that you’re planting in a field that hasn’t been cleared. And I want to break down this analogy for you because often what we really need is to slow down to speed up. So in this episode, I now only want to go over three steps to help you do this so that you can finally see the results that you deserve, but give you some reflection questions to ask yourself. Because I think a lot of times we just go all in and we try and speed ahead. And what we ultimately need to do is take that step back to realize what we’re applying all of our hard work to.

(00:56):
And if we don’t take that first assessment, a lot of times we’re adding on all these other things to a field filled with weeds. We’re trying to plant seeds where they can’t grow. So let’s go through the different steps that I think you really need to take the slow down to speed up to ultimately see better results. So step number one, and I bring all this up because I get a ton of questions and comments of people just saying, just tell me what to do. And the problem with that is, is that you can’t just be told a plan to do. You need to build a plan around where you’re at right now, and that means assessing what’s in your field, right? You are a field. What is in that field? Is it filled with weeds? Is it growing very smoothly? Does it have proper irrigation?

(01:43):
But step number one is you need to take that time to actually prep, can’t rush it. You need to assess where you’re at right now. If you want to create sustainable, lasting habit changes because that ideal plan you’ve been searching for, it doesn’t exist. And the more you keep trying to seek it out, the more you’re ultimately trying to force yourself into a mold that doesn’t really work for you. Like saying, I’m going to do six days a week, because that’s what the plan says when you can barely do three means that you are having a mismatch in what’s actually possible. You’re saying, oh, I’m going to grow this plant here That thrives in tropical climate. When you’re in the desert, it’s not going to work. So you have to pause to prep and make sure you are going to be able to plant things that can grow.

(02:29):
So I want you to think, what is my actual lifestyle looking like right now? I want you to assess what’s going on that would make things stressful. What have I tried in the past that hasn’t worked? What mental resistance have I built up towards tools? What tools have worked for me in the past? Really reflect on what have you done and where are you at? Ask yourself even the question of what quick fix have you chased before? And what happened when the motivation wore off? Because if you think about it, every time we’re looking to make a change, we’re super motivated. We’re super driven. Maybe it’s that we tried on those pair of pants that didn’t fit, or we stepped on the scale or we don’t like how we look, or we just feel low energy. Usually that drives us forward with motivation, and we’re even willing to embrace more sacrifices to see the result that we want because we feel bad.

(03:23):
But that bad feeling also then gets attached to a lot of the habit changes we’re trying to make, especially if with tracking, we feel restricted. And so then we have negative feelings towards that. So we have to assess what did we try and do when we’re motivated and what was the impact of that? And then how do we try and do too much, which ultimately sabotaged us. This pause right now to reflect on all those different things can save us a whole bunch of time and energy later. Yet so often we just say, I want to be told what to do, and we jump right in. So the first step is really pausing to prep before you make any changes. And it can be hard. It can be hard to slow down to speed up, but if you clear that field, you have that field cleared to then be able to plant the seeds so they can grow properly.

(04:07):
But if there’s a whole bunch of weeds, nothing’s going to thrive. Then step number two is really knowing what is in your field. We don’t often even realize what is and isn’t a weed. It could be a really pretty looking flower, but ultimately a weed that could kill everything else if we let it thrive. I don’t know a ton about plants, so I don’t know what that pretty flower that would kill everything else would be. But there are plants that do that. And the same thing can happen with habits that we’ve already ingrained, routines that we’ve already ingrained patterns that we’ve already created. Think about how many times you try to make that healthy habit change, and then you come home after that stressful day at work and you go to the cabinet and before you know it, you’ve got that whole bag of chips half eaten already on the couch and you’re going to devour the rest of it.

(04:50):
That’s a pattern, a seed that has been planted some time ago that now has grown into something that you might not even be aware is there. And a lot of times what we try and do is cut it off at the stem, right? We don’t actually pull out the roots, but we’ve got to truly understand what has grown in our field before, what it actually has available to it. Again, if it doesn’t have proper water flow, we can’t grow something that needs a lot of water. So in pausing to prep our field, we also have to pause to recognize all the underlying things that are there, all the roots that might still be buried, all the seeds that we haven’t recognized that have even grown, because these are all the mindsets, the patterns that we’ll repeat, especially when we get stressed, especially when that motivation wears off.

(05:33):
So I want you to look at three habits you’re repeating that might be holding you back currently, three patterns you found yourself falling back into, especially when you’re stressed. And then even think about what beliefs are you holding onto that are causing you or slowing you down or causing you to slow down. And I bring this back to the tracking that I brought up earlier. When do we usually go to tracking our food when we’re not happy? And then what do we do with tracking? We cut things out. No wonder we have a negative association with it. We’ve used it in a negative way in the past when we haven’t felt good. It’s felt like punishment. It’s felt like restriction, but tracking itself is none of those things. So we have to recognize the habits we might need, the lifestyle change we might need that we’ve pushed back on in the past, oh, I’ve hated increasing my protein, or I’ve hated doing strength work, or I’ve hated doing this, right?

(06:25):
Assess why you dislike those things and how you’ve implemented them in the past and how they might serve you now and resisting those hard changes might be the one thing that’s keeping you stuck. But the more we reflect on the mindsets and beliefs and habits and attitudes that we have and the interaction between those things, the more we can help ourselves really understand the situation we’re dealing with to move forward. And then step number three, build the right environment. When we see results, it’s because our environment is reinforcing the habits that we need. Ever notice the second you go on vacation and then you come back and you’re thrown out of your routine, it’s way harder to get back into things and you feel like you’ve completely lost the flow. It’s because of that shift in environment because maybe you don’t have the same meals prepped even coming back, or you don’t have everything ready the way you have, or you’ve been out of that routine, out of that environment.

(07:18):
It’s even something I see happen with clients and coaching is they’ve built these habits, they have this routine, but they don’t even recognize how much. Having that constant reminder of some of the resources or the community really helps them. I green those things. Or even when you think about going to the gym first thing in the morning. The first morning you don’t put out your clothes or you haven’t put out your clothes the night before. It’s a little bit harder to get yourself up, a little bit harder to get to the gym often, and it’s because we don’t have that same environment, as silly as some of these little habit things might seem. But those visual reminders, those environmental reminders, those habit repeaters almost, they are the things that keep us in the routine. If you think about it, on a stressful day, you walk in the door the same way you put your bag in the same place, you go to the cabinet the same way you go to the couch in the same way if all of a sudden you weren’t to come in your front door or you want to put your bag down the same place or you weren’t to have the thing in that cabinet, those are environment interrupters, pattern interrupters.

(08:13):
So really think about your environment and is it setting you up to repeat the same patterns and habits and routines that you don’t like, reinforces the same mindsets that you don’t need or that aren’t serving you? Or is it being developed in a way that reinforces the person you want to become, the habits you want to implement, the new lifestyle you want to lead to reach your goals. So I want you to think about what do you need to stop doing to make the space for the results you want? And what’s one small habit you’re ready to plant this week? And I want you to think with the stop doing to make space, think about it as what we prioritize or what we value we prioritize, and what we prioritize we’re going to do no matter what. So if there are things in your day, you’ll do no matter what right now, because they are priorities and they’re usually also your excuses for why you don’t have enough time for other things.

(09:05):
Put them last in the day instead of leaving your workout to the end of the day to put all the priorities you have first, put your workout first because that way you’re going to do all those other things, you value them, so you’re going to find the time to do them. So put first a thing that you won’t find the time for. If a push comes a shove at the end of the day, or you’re stressed out or you’re tired, but think about what even do you need to stop doing to make that space? Do you need to stop doing specific things in your environment? Do you need to shift your environment? And I’ve used this example before, so I apologize if you’ve heard it, but it’s something for me that was so eyeopening in how much the environment can shape what I do. But I had candy in the cupboard and I would play the one more game when I was stressed and I would go, Ooh, one more piece of candy, one more piece of candy.

(09:50):
And I keep going back to the cabinet. All of a sudden, one day I just threw that in the freezer and it was like the game stopped. Is the candy just as delicious and just as accessible in the freezer? Yes, it might even be arguably some of the pieces of candy more delicious. But that change in environment and the fact that I’m like, well, it’s here forever, even though it would’ve lasted a heck of a long time in the cabinet, it’s here forever. It shifted the environment. It was that pattern interrupt I needed. So as you’re thinking about something that you want to implement, think about some of the things you need to stop doing or shift how you’re doing or change your environment to help you prevent the same pattern from repeating as you’re planting that seed. Because we can’t plant the seed in a field overgrown with weeds.

(10:35):
It’s not going to thrive. So if we’re only trying to add new habits, do more workouts, do the macros work harder When the environment isn’t set up for success, we’re not going to seed things snowball. So hopefully these questions are helping you start to reflect. And if you want more, I want you to check out the journal entries and the journal questions that I have in the video description that will really help you or in the show notes that will help you also dive into these things a little bit more so that you can go through these three steps and really take action. It doesn’t have to be more than 10 minutes, but even take 10 minutes to really reflect and pause to prep. Are you clearing the field to then be able to put in the work in the right way with the seeds that you want planted there, the habits that you want?

(11:21):
How are you shaping that environment to help you move forward to see the results that you want? And it’s not easy. It’s really hard to even pause ourselves to take this time to think through things before we just jump into an ideal plan. But this desire to just be told what to do, to implement something that seems perfect is what holds us back and doesn’t allow us to meet ourselves where we’re at right now. So stop thinking about trying to do more and think about how to do things differently this time. Slow down, clear the field, plant the seeds, and put in the work strategically to help them grow.

 

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