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 it now. There is never a right time to start, never a perfect time of life. And when we keep trying to wait for one, ultimately we keep ourselves stuck or we create habits that really aren’t lasting. That’s why I’m super excited to dive in today with Michelle about building habits now, especially before the holidays, after we’ve seen potentially a little summer slide. So Michelle, thank you so much for joining me today.

Michelle (00:35):
Thank you for having me. This honestly is one of my favorite topics, discuss because so often we let excuses pile up and the holidays is probably one of the biggest excuses that we use when it comes to our health and our nutrition and our fitness.

Cori (00:51):
And these months right in between what I sort of call the summer slide and the holiday downfall often aren’t used in the way they really can be used. And part of that is because we do see a change in schedule with work going back to school, those different things which sabotage us potentially in a different way, but it makes it hard to get in a groove when we even know that our lifestyle is going to shift. So I really want to talk about how we can use these couple of months where we’re not in summer mode, we’re not in holiday season, but life is still not necessarily easy and working for us. It often is in the new year. To kick things off,

Michelle (01:31):
What you just said is one of my favorite things because I think it just piles onto, there’s never the perfect time and if you keep trying to wait for that perfect time, it’s not going to come. So the best thing to really do is to try and find those small habits that you can slowly start to build and really make into your routine, especially when your routine is starting to be thrown up in the air. It’s kind of finding those non-negotiables that you are going to be consistent with day-to-day.

Cori (02:00):
And in finding those, it really comes back to owning our lifestyle. So it was really interesting. I brought this up a couple of times, but I was very fascinated by this response. I put a poll in my broadcast channel and I asked what was the real struggle to get consistent? What usually sabotaged you? And it wasn’t time, it wasn’t knowing what to do. It wasn’t results being too slow, it was stress and life getting in the way. And I think this response is our belief that we have to do habits in one specific form at a certain intensity, all or nothing attitude. And that’s ultimately what prevents us from getting consistent over owning our lifestyle because the reality is life is always going to happen, so we have to learn how to really navigate it.

Michelle (02:45):
Exactly. It’s finding those true foundations for you that again, you can build off of. And so if we’re trying to find those true foundations, where do we start? I think the most important thing is to truly find just the small tweaks that you’re going to be able to initiate daily. And when I’m saying small, I’m saying let’s just focus on setting one nutrition goal and one fitness goal and really having those be your anchors. So even if you need to drop down to a bare minimum approach, you have those two main things that you are going to be focused on that no matter what hits, that’s going to be something that you’re going to ensure that you’re going to hit on and make sure you’re getting to every single day.

Cori (03:31):
And I think that’s sometimes hard to assess what those are because we even look at the habits we might’ve had and it feels like we’re taking a step back. But if we don’t assess the evolution that needs to happen there, that’s where we feel like the effort doesn’t feel worth the outcome. If we think about it like a budget, the habits that we’ve been doing cost us a certain amount and all of a sudden with a seasonal shift, they might feel like they cost us a lot more than they were before. And so stepping back is the way that we can keep doing something. How do you navigate though what I almost call the guilt of doing less?

Michelle (04:05):
I think it’s honestly just requires a little bit of a reframe in that thought process in general is because so often we, I always use the word pedestal, but I really think we put pedestal habits on like, oh, if I’m going to be trying to hit this health goal or this is my end goal, I need to make sure my plan is this so that others know that I’m trying to do X, Y and Z. We kind in my opinion, sometimes we worry a little bit about what other people are seeing us portray versus just doing the boring basics. Sometimes we want other people to see what we’re doing and to see that we’re taking action, but truthfully, what’s going to actually lead you to results are going to be the things that honestly people aren’t going be seeing. There aren’t going be the glory and kind the boring basics that you do day to day.

(04:58):
So I think it’s really about kind of reframing that mindset a little bit so that you are doing it truly for yourself and making sure that you are setting up strong habits because otherwise you’re going to have that wagon to fall off of. And when it comes to your health and your nutrition, there is no wagon to fall off because this is your routine. This is something that you need to do daily and it doesn’t matter on the ups or the downs or what the season brings or what life throws at you. This is your journey.

Cori (05:31):
I love that description of pedestal habits because I do think we have these ideals that a lot of time it’s self-inflicted pressure to maintain, I have to work out six days a week. Well, if that’s not realistic for your schedule, designed for the time you have, you’ll still see results. And I get it, it’s because we’ve seen this is the best thing for x, and so we want to strive for that, but it’s where we ignore the benefit of the minimums that something is better than nothing. We do think, oh, what’s the point of doing X? It’s not the ideal, so what’s the point? Well, it’s still going to move you forward. And I like to ask myself at those times the question of what’s the alternative? If you are not doing something to move forward, you are doing nothing or potentially the opposite of something you should be doing, which only is going to make you end up losing progress.

(06:17):
Even if you maintain it, you’ve still maintained all the other progress you’ve made so that when you are at a time where you can do more, you can do those ideals, you can move forward faster. So I think even thinking of it as like what’s really the alternative if I’m not doing something can help us reframe those. And I love that you mentioned the minimums too because I think it goes back to momentum and that momentum is so important. Can you dive into how we even talk about momentum and why that matters more potentially than doing some pedestal ideal habit?

Michelle (06:49):
So one thing that I wish more people took into consideration and kind of lived by a little bit is momentum is always going to be motivation. Your motivation, you can come in on a journey. I mean we see it so often like the post January, like, oh, I have all this motivation, I’m going to be sticking to these health plans, but motivation fades. I’ve never met anyone, I’ve never had any client, I’ve never worked with any athlete that has told me that their motivation is always high, their motivation is always going to be there. So what’s going to be there is building that momentum. So if you’ve already built momentum going into the holidays, you’re going to keep rolling and actually see that momentum build because the one thing that we’re talking about doing the minimums, doing the basics. I also will say, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that does one habit that doesn’t roll into another habit.

(07:43):
So you end up getting that momentum building and pretty soon what was starting as that bare minimum you’re building and building, even if you’re only doing one thing to start your day. Oftentimes just having that mental focus on that one thing, you tend to make a little bit better choices throughout the day. You tend to have that anchor as to, oh yeah, this is my goal. And your goal could simply be, I want to feel good on this trip. I want to feel good during the holiday season so I’m not waking up kind of cranky and not feeling great and dealing with digestive issues when I’m also around family and friends and going on this trip or vacation. It can just be as simple as you want to feel good. So having something that you’re anchoring to is going to help build that momentum.

Cori (08:30):
And momentum builds motivation a lot of times to do more because you feel successful versus when you are striving for an ideal and you can’t do it versus setting those minimums that you can’t actually master, you feel like a failure and that makes you less motivated, less wanting to do more. And in really frank terms, and probably a term we’re more comfortable with discipline, momentum is discipline. When you build momentum with those little things, that’s what creates discipline. It’s not trying to do an ideal and forcing it and trying to willpower your way through. It’s that little bit of action that makes you feel more successful. So it makes you want to do it more. So that keeps the ball rolling because that’s where you see that discipline really hit. I want to keep doing these things because I really do see the payoff from them and that’s often what carries us through and makes us create those 1% improvements that ultimately pay off

Michelle (09:24):
A hundred percent. It’s that momentum, the discipline and the motivation. It’s just the nice, it’s talking on top of it.

Cori (09:35):
So in terms of carrying us through the holidays, how can we really use this time right now to make sure that during the holidays we are still making progress and again, not what we want to hear, but maintaining the results that we built before helps us go into the new year ahead of where we would be, have we fallen back into old patterns and routines or lost all the things we built? It sets that foundation a little bit higher in terms of the habits we’re already doing so we can build off of them more, but how can we use this time to build that momentum through the holidays to keep us going?

Michelle (10:08):
Right now is the time to find what those anchor habits are going to be. And I like what you’re saying as far as making sure we’re maintaining not backsliding, and I’m going to emphasize that just a little bit because I think so often we think, well, I’ll just maintain, I’m going to start later. But you don’t tend to maintain, you do tend to backslide, so usually you get further away from your goal versus if you would start these habits now you’re going to go in a little bit better and you’re not going to have more work to do later. So it’s really about looking at the future you too and be like, there’s no day better to start than today. So it’s anchoring yourself in those most important habits for you going into this holiday season and right now with the routines, with a lot of our routines kind of shifting and changing, a lot of times people are like, well, once things calm down and I have my routine, then I’ll do it.

(11:00):
Why not build your routine around the habits? So if you have your changing schedule and you’re trying to figure out that changing schedule, start by implementing some of those anchor habits into your schedule. So then when you get the more solidified schedule, you have these to even build it around. And this is really where I even encourage looking at what do you do already that you do without thinking it’s autopilot? Most of us that can be as simple as like, Hey, I brushed my teeth. How can you habit stack on that? Hey, I know I’m going to brush my teeth. Well, what can we do around that that is going to help be that trigger for a new anchor habit?

Cori (11:41):
And it’s creating these anchor habits off of what’s realistic for our lifestyle because what’s going to carry us through the holidays and even talk about building that routine. So often we try and build it when we feel like life is perfect and then the routine isn’t sustainable versus if we do take this time period right now where we’re like, oh, I’m not in a groove. I don’t know what’s coming next. Okay, well if you can find the little things you can even do now, think about when you have a more perfect time, how much more you can even build off of how much momentum will be there, how much a discipline will some of these other things will already be in place because going into the holidays we have to own the reality of the time. I think of it as what we want and what we actually want.

(12:19):
We say, oh, I want to lose weight. But when it comes push to shove, when we’re at that dinner, what we actually want is to enjoy the holiday with family. So let’s own what we want out of that season and then what our goals are, what we ultimately want, and see how we can navigate, how can I have some short-term enjoyment and also long-term payoff because the more we try and ignore the short-term desires that we do have, instead of own them, plan around them, account for them, find out what’s worth what to us, the more we can really create something sustainable over trying to push our way through ultimately cause ourselves to fall off, feel like a failure and then not even want to get started fully in the new year or feel more resistance to habits because they felt so unsustainable and so off from what we feel like our lifestyle really was. So it is finding that balance of wants and wants too.

Michelle (13:13):
I love that because that was actually a conversation I had recently with a client was talking about seasons and their seasons and owning your season. Now the goal, like you said, sometimes the goal is just owning that minimum, owning that maintenance, but it’s also looking at your season and where you value those shifts. And you may have seasons where, yeah, this is going to be my minimum. For example, the client I was talking to holidays, she’s like, yeah, holidays a day for me, but the summer, that’s when I’m traveling, I’m hiking, I’m canoeing, I’m doing all these things where oftentimes I’m in a group and I don’t have as much control with my food, so I have to focus on some of these minimum habits. And for some people that may be you where the summertime is actually where you need to focus on the minimums versus the holiday seasons.

(14:00):
But for a lot of us it is the holiday seasons is focusing on what are those anchor habits that we’re going to be leaning into. And then there may, we are going to own our season as to like, oh, this is going be the time that I do lean a little bit more in and maybe this is where I do a little bit more of a mini cut or try to be more aggressive in my muscle growth. So owning that is something that’s key. And like he said, I think it is even sometimes actually sitting down and writing down the things that you value out of the holidays. Is it the parties? Is it the family connection? Is there a way you can even kind of put some of these healthy habits into the family connection? We just had a holiday over this last weekend and I went on lots of walks because that was something that I could do like, hey, we’re going to sit here and talk. Why don’t we talk and walk? So something to kind of make sure that we are incorporating that with something that we also already are going to be enjoying.

Cori (14:59):
And then it’s understanding that you’re testing out sometimes during the holiday season, during a different season of life and when you’re making habit changes towards a specific goal, you’re testing out the habits. I often think about workout and nutrition changes that we make and the confidence we can build and the strength that we can see in ourselves as that microcosm for the rest of life where then we take that strength out into the world and can do a lot of other things because we built it there and the holidays are kind of this high pressure situation to test out habits and see what actually sticks and what feels sustainable for your lifestyle. And of course that will evolve over the year. But if you can find minimums that work at the worst of worst times, we’ll say the toughest of tough times, the least routine of times, the more you’ll be able to do those things at other times a year.

(15:44):
And if you get successful feeling with those, you’re going to want to do more. Because I do think so often we don’t recognize that a lot of what we dread with going on a diet making workout changes is things that have been associated during negative phases where we’ve tried to willpower our way through or pushed a habit that wasn’t really sustainable at that time. We haven’t built that true discipline with some of the components of it or matched it to what we really value. So seeing this as almost like practice for some of those habits could be a great way to reframe it for yourself.

Michelle (16:17):
Absolutely. And I’m going to go a little bit step further and kind of dive into this just a little bit because we’re talking about, we’re using the word habits, but it is sitting down and figuring out what that habit is. But you have to take it one step further. You can have that minimum habit, but unless you put an action plan in place of how you’re actually going to do it, then it’s just simple words. It’s like, yes, I want to eat more protein. That’s great. How are you going to do it? Are you going to focus on breakfast? Are you going to focus on one meal out of the day? Are you going to have a protein minimum for each meal? Are you going to up your protein with your snacks because you’re seeing that your snacks are just carb? How are you going to break it down?

(16:59):
And it is even doing sometimes the minimum within that habit. So your habit may be, yes, I want to have a protein goal. Okay, great. Let’s start. Where is the most important? And I’ll be honest, for most of us it is making sure we’re getting that protein at breakfast to set up your day. I really do encourage a lot of times to start the day with a habit, kind of going off of what we talked about earlier is because it helps build momentum for the rest of the day. So if you are able to do something first thing in the morning, you’re going to find that it’s going to affect your choices throughout the rest of the day.

Cori (17:34):
Success breeds more success when you do that one thing. And honestly, sometimes starting out make it so silly simple, you’re like, well, I can do this right this second as I’m talking about it. Great, do that one thing because if you set yourself up with breakfast, even if it’s just I’m adding one more ounce or I’m adding five more grams, that little thing that you do consistently makes you feel successful and you’re going to see progress from it. No, it might not be the sexy overnight changes that doing everything all at once can sort of lead to, but it’s still going to be that victory in terms of the habit. You’re going to feel disciplined with it and you’re going to want to do more. It’s the same thing with workouts. I’ve seen it happen where people will have six days a week they’ve outlined to workout and they’ll get in three of those days and be like, I only got three days.

(18:18):
This stinks. It’s horrible. Why am I even doing anything? And then all of a sudden they’re not doing anything. But they got in three workouts. Granted, the three workouts might not have been as optimized had they actually planned for three days, but they still got in three days. Now, had they said to themselves, I want to do two days this week because I feel like three is slightly a stretch, and they planned so that the workouts could be very full body, even two days would really maximize the time they had and then they did three. All of a sudden that shifts things, but it’s the same three days. Granted, one, you’re designing for the time you have, which is why it’s so key. We take ownership, but it’s about the mindset behind a lot of what we’re doing that we have to own if we want to see those changes actually build.

Michelle (19:03):
Yeah, I had someone similar that was like, I only have 10 minutes to get my workout in. What can I do in 10 minutes? I’m like, well, 10 minutes is better than nothing. And if you only have 10 minutes and you’re doing 10 minutes a day, it adds up. Like you said, we can always do more, right? But are we allowing ourselves to do the minimum when that’s all that’s allowed?

Cori (19:27):
I mean, depending on what you want out of those 10 minutes, not that I’m recommending you do this, but 10 minutes of burpees is going to make you feel pretty slaughtered. 10 minutes of mobility work is going to be a lot of great activation, foam rolling and stretching. So there’s a lot of benefits you can get out of 10 minutes if you own. I only have 10 minutes. And again, we so often think, is it even worth it? But what’s the alternative? Doing nothing. How is doing nothing at all going to move you forward versus the potential of at least that 10 minutes paying off? And then even just thinking about, okay, well what does this 10 minutes lead to? Because so often we get caught up in very much just the habit. Oh, well only eating five more grams of protein. What does that really do?

(20:06):
Well, the fact is, is you made a change and you made a change at a time where it felt like the wrong time to start. And then you’re also keeping in the routine, maybe 10 minutes, three days a week is still holding that spot for those three days and that’s all you have. But that makes it that much easier when you do have time for 20 or 30 because the ball is already rolling in the right direction. So we have to remember that it’s not just the habit, but the mindsets, the pattern. The other things that we’re building behind the scenes with some of these actions that really pay off,

Michelle (20:34):
And I think that’s important too, is so often we look at our habits are routines, and when it comes to nutrition and fitness, we always have a start and an end. We tend to be like, oh, well I’ll start and my goal is to go this long and we’ve already mentally put an end date on what those habits are going to be, and you can’t do that. It’s reframing that mindset and stop thinking about your nutrition and fitness goals to have a start and an end date. You can have checkpoints, but there’s no end to this. There’s no end to this journey that we’re on because guess what? You were given a body and we have the rest of our lives to take care of it, and it’s going to be very telling who’s taking care of it and who’s not as we age and we can’t stop the clock.

Cori (21:21):
So thinking about creating these lasting habits and knowing that they will evolve and going into the holidays, how can we make sure we’re sort of planning minimums that will truly survive? We’ll say the challenges that the holidays do present.

Michelle (21:37):
So you’re going to basically, you need to plan around having imperfections. You’re not going to have the perfect day. So what is that one thing you’re going to get done that day? And that’s going to be your anchor habit. I’m going to challenge everyone to find two, one nutrition and one fitness level where you are going to have some type of habit that you’re really going to anchor to, and it is owning your journey and owning where you’re at and your season and what you value. So it’s not always looking at what’s going to make the biggest impact, which oftentimes we live in that world. Well, what can I do that’s going to make the biggest impact? It is going to be, what’s the easiest thing I can do? What is that number one thing that I’m going to do that will, everything else will kind of build off of?

(22:27):
So I’m just throwing ideas out here at this point because again, this is going to be personal to you. It’s going to be what you can kind of find easier to add throughout your day. It can be the protein goal. It can be just adding that five extra grams. It can be having a protein minimum throughout the day. It can be making sure that you’re having protein with every snack. We don’t love eating. My favorite saying that, one of our coaches says is, you can eat your carbs naked, but don’t eat a naked carbs. So making sure that you’re having protein with every snack throughout the day. It can be that water goal, it can be a fiber goal. It can be that a fruits and vegetable goal, but finding something and then taking it one step further of how are you going to do it?

(23:12):
What actually are you going to do to hit that? And then the same thing with the fitness. Ideally, you may be that person that thinks that you need to be working out six days a week, but that’s probably not going to happen. The reality of it, especially during the traveling season and when we’re around family. So what is that minimum for you? How much time do you actually have? You may think that you want to be hitting an hour workout, but is the 20 or 30 minute workout going to be more realistic for you? Then we need to take it back to that, and oftentimes we underestimate that we need recovery. So going all full kilt, six days a week may not actually be the best thing for your body in the longterm to see results. So keeping those things in mind, and again, how are you going to do it? Is it going to be a step goal? Are we just going to make sure that you’re moving a little bit and getting in one walk? But whatever you choose, make it a non-negotiable. That is your anchor habit. Everything else is to build off of that one habit

Cori (24:15):
And then really assess not what you’ve been doing that might’ve been easier at this particular season, but assess what did you do this time last year and during the holidays? Because the more you assess those different things, the more you can be like, okay, during the holidays I tried to do X, y, and Z thing. I tried to hit full macro ratios, do six days a week. It didn’t work. I ended up feeling like it was starting over in the near. Okay. So instead of going that route, say, okay, what are the minimums within that? What did I actually do even when I felt like I was failing with everything else? Because you might notice that there were a few things that still stuck. So how can I start there and build off of them? But the more you assess time of year against time of year to find habits that really build from year to year, which again, is not the sexy overnight success we want, right? It’s not the overnight changes that we want. That’s really what’s going to end up lending itself to each and every year getting better and you making better and better progress towards your goals. So Michelle, any closing thoughts for people really looking to make changes right now? Set those anchor habits, the what and how? Any closing thoughts or great reminders?

Michelle (25:23):
I’m honestly just going to go with something that you’ve already touched on, but really just remembering if you build the habit when life feels chaotic, you’re going to be unstoppable when things calm down. So you’re really setting up your future self so that you don’t have another excuse that you’re allowing yourself to chase. So show up, stack those wins, and really go into the holidays ahead of the game,

Cori (25:49):
Build that momentum and share your anchor habits, the two that you are picking, so that you can really build those sustainable changes right now to carry you through to the new year.

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