If you struggle to feel motivated when going to the gym, feel sluggish, uninspired, or lack energy, and you aren't sure why, your nutrition might be to blame. I repeatedly see three major things when it comes to women who have an active lifestyle but aren't feeling as good as they expected. As Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter would say, when something happens, it's always these three.
Three Things To Watch Out For Nutrition Wise When You Are Training Hard Are:
Learning and Unlearning
If you are engaging with medium or high-intensity activity, your body needs fuel and energy throughout the day. This means eating regularly, fueling yourself with the right types of foods, and listening to your body's hunger signals.
We have been taught that carbs are the enemy and that skipping meals is okay if you don't feel hungry, which is just not the case. While these ‘rules’ may be well-intentioned, they are problematic and require a lot of learning and unlearning in this space.
The Three Things Standing in the Way of Your Results
The truth is, if you don’t take in enough energy, you will feel like shit. We need to use a combination of listening to our bodies but also logic to nourish ourselves and, in turn, see the results we are hoping for at the gym.
If you are lifting weights and want to get stronger and build muscle, you have to have a strong base of nutrition. Carbs, regular meals, and eating to fuel your body are essential to helping you get the results you want in your muscle gain and also your energy levels.
Are you ready to embrace nutrition in order to improve your overall game? Share what goal you are working towards with me in the comments on the episode page.
Quotes
“Dame Maggie Smith playing Professor McGonagall, and she says to Hermionie and Ron and Harry, ‘why is it that when something happens, it is always you three?’. It kind of brought up this sort of comical reel that I made but with a really serious message behind it.” (5:37)
“I’ve been in and around the strength training community for now over a decade. I have, myself, been lifting for over a decade and been coaching for many years now. And I see this happening with monotonous regularity. So, is it happening to everybody? Probably not. Is it happening to a big chunk of folks? From my experience, it is.” (8:17)
“I think what we are seeing is a lot of things converging at one time. Obviously, there is the recognition now and the desire to say hey, pre-menopausal women haven't been represented super well in a lot of this research.” (18:03)
“You don't have to be an elite athlete to have this challenge, and skipping meals sometimes, oftentimes, makes it more difficult to get in the amount of energy, and other things like protein, that someone who is lifting weights and interested in building muscle tissue really needs to provide in their daily intake in order to make that stuff happen.” (20:36)
“Does your body have fail-safes? Of course! Your body is miraculous and wonderful and has all sorts of clever ways to do things like access stored energy and this and that. But when this becomes a pattern over time, especially if you do have access to food, this is something to consider turning your attention toward.” (25:29)
Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Here
Join the Private Coaching Waitlist Here
Check out the full show notes here!
Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
LTYB 282: Anti-Diet versus Functional Nutrition with Michelle Shapiro
LTYB 332: 3 Mistakes Keeping You From Getting Stronger In The Gym
LTYB 334: How Strong Women Can Lift Eachother Up with Molly Galbraith
How many times have you told yourself you’re too old or it’s too late to get started on something? The idea of starting a new athletic pursuit after 40 seems impossible to many people, but there are so many people out there proving every day that it can be reality.
If You Are Ready to Explore Your Athletic Potential, You Should:
Live Agelessly With Robin Legat
One of those people is Robin Legat, a badass obstacle racer who helps women over 40 explore their athletic potential, gain confidence, and overcome life's obstacles. Robin is passionate about helping women live agelessly by sharing her wisdom and preparing women to run their best obstacle race. She believes that exploring your athletic potential at every age can help everyone expand their lives.
What Is an Athlete?
To Robin, being an athlete means having a body that is moved with intention and is tested from time to time. That's it! You do not need to be perfect or elite to get started. Once you can find an activity that you enjoy, the fire you get from that feeling will continue to motivate you.
Being able to accomplish something that you never thought you would be able to do can give you joy that affects more than just your fitness but really impacts your whole life. You just have to be willing to show up at the start line.
You Don’t Need to Be Perfect, You Just Need to Show Up
When you gain the confidence to put yourself out there and participate in an experience, you can still feel your ‘superhero’ moment even if you don't do it perfectly. While your preferences of which activities you engage with may shift throughout the different seasons in your life, the positive benefits you can get from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can be life-changing.
By redefining the rewards and benefits that come from taking on challenges, you can gain the confidence to overcome life's obstacles and explore your athletic potential at any age.
Are you ready to run your first obstacle course race after listening to this episode? Share what you loved most about Robin’s approach to fitness over 40 with me in the comments section of the episode page.
Quotes
“One of the things I am trying to break down in my little corner is the rewards and the benefits that come from taking on challenges such as obstacle races, that’s just one example, but the rewards and challenges that come from stepping beyond your comfort zone, taking on new challenges, and discovering your ability to do things you never thought you could.” (11:19)
“Obstacle racing is a lot of being a grown-up kid. You are doing monkey bars, and rope climbs and crawling in mud, kid stuff. And we forget that. We lose track of that and forget how fun that side of ourselves can be, and you can access that at any age if you want to.” (19:36)
“That's why I love helping women, particularly women over 40, find that thing that lights them up. Because that can be life-changing in regards to your relationship with exercise and training and how you view yourself as an athlete.” (25:44)
“All that other stuff does not matter. You need to have the ability to show up to that start line, just like I needed to have that ability to show up to my first roller derby practice. So know that you can get from the start line to finish line.” (30:26)
“When you see you just did something, that you have never done, that you didn’t think you could ever do, that's an amazing feeling that permeates into all areas of your life. And that’s why I want to reach women over 40.” (41:30)
Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here
Seasoned Athlete Live: Start Line Strong
Follow Robin on Instagram | Facebook
Check out the full show notes here!
Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
LTYB 319: Why Fitspo Needs To Die
If you struggle with staying motivated when engaging with exercise, you are not alone. Starting a fitness plan is very exciting initially, but when reality sets in about the amount of time it can take to see results, especially as our bodies change through the different phases of life, it can be a bit disheartening. This is why I have brought the ultimate motivator, Christa Shelton, to the show today.
If You Want To Get Clear On Your Fitness Motivation, You Should:
For The Love of Motivation
Christa is a certified personal trainer and behavioral change specialist who is passionate about helping her clients use motivation as a vehicle for long-term success. She loves helping women in mid-life feel confident with their movement practices and get to the ‘why’ behind their goals. She has combined her enthusiasm for fitness and her love of motivating people into a purpose that serves her clients, herself, and her community.
Feeling Confident in Movement at Every Age
When getting back into fitness, especially if some years have passed since the last time we engaged with that exercise, we all tend to compare what we can do now to what we could do back then. But the truth is, how you are training now should be different than how you were training 5 or 10 years ago because your body needs different things. By being tuned into what your body is saying to you, you can get over the barriers of movement and learn to embrace the changes your body is going through.
Know Your "Why"
The best way to stay motivated is to be confident in the ‘why’ behind your goal. Christa uses strength training as a gateway to getting into your internal mindset and figuring out what each unique person needs at that moment.
When you can own and feel good about your intentions and feel secure in what your body can do, that confidence translates into all areas of your life. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be strong. While the definition of the word strong may change from person to person, the positivity that comes from feeling assured in your body's abilities is universal.
Are you ready to stop procrastinating and start using your mindset to fuel your motivation? Share what you loved most about Christa’s approach with me in the comments on the episode page.
Quotes
“Because I am walking this journey, it really compelled me to really immerse myself in how we are looking at aging and how we are feeling about our bodies as we age. And that's really what made me want to make the shift to really focus here.” (8:39)
“Generally speaking, it still takes work and time to build muscle. So to think you could go from where you are to somehow ever get to ‘The Rock’ or anywhere near that is in itself a huge misconception.” (18:40)
“I am very much more the type of trainer that is going to talk to you about how you are feeling, specifically that day when I see you, and then we are going to move according to that.” (23:44)
“Getting down deep and relating to people on a human level is not something that I feel is really talked about as much as it should be for people coming into this work. Because when you are dealing with people's bodies, I feel that that is a very personal space, and it needs to be treated with the utmost respect.” (27:46)
“What are your motivations behind the things that you do? I think it is important to dig into that so that you can really understand if your motivation for doing something is based on conditioning and messaging that you have been getting... or is it something that you have a clear mindset about this approach and why you feel it is important.” (32:23)
Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here
Follow Christa on Instagram
Check out the full show notes here!
Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
LTYB 239: Demystifying Menopause Fitness & Nutrition with Amanda Thebe
LTYB 331: Strength Training & Your Relationship with Exercise
LTYB 334: How Strong Women Can Lift Eachother Up with Molly Galbraith
The constant pursuit of shrinking your body can have major costs on your life. Instead of listening to what external validation tells you, you can listen to what your body needs and start validating yourself from the inside out.
If You Are Ready To Take A New Approach To Diet and Exercise, You Should:
The Impact of Searching for External Validation
Deanna Harder has been involved in the fitness industry in some way or another since the age of 16. She used sports such as figure skating and bodybuilding to stay lean and stay compliant because of her previous disordered eating. It wasn't until she got a speeding ticket on the way home because she was so eager to get home and finally eat a handful of almonds that her compliance to the sport had taken over her whole life. Now, she works with women to help them shift their mindset, validate themselves, and quit the all-or-nothing mentality.
How Is Your Mentality Serving You?
Aesthetic-based sports and physique-based competitions played into Deanna’s desire to get smaller and perform harder. She didn't realize that she was starving her body of the nutrients it needed and using validation from others to justify her all-or-nothing mentality.
It wasn't until the age of 40 that she sought help for her exercise compulsion and eating disorders, which is why she is so passionate about helping other women make the change that she did and live better for it.
Learn to Trust Yourself Again
When coming from a place of restriction and diet culture, it can be scary to navigate the middle, learn about moderate eating, and eat for satisfaction. While it will take some internal work to remember how to trust yourself when it comes to food and exercise, Deanna knows deep down that those intuitive powers reside in all of us.
The more you learn to trust yourself, listen internally and stay mindful, the easier it gets to listen to what your body is saying to you. It is fascinating what you can discover about yourself when you tap into what you have ignored for so long, but Deanna is confident that if you can make that jump into the unknown, you will forever be happy that you did.
Are you ready to start taking the steps and shift your goals from aesthetic-based to do-based? Share what you resonated most with Deanna’s story with me in the comments on the episode page.
Quotes
“Those who didn't have such a great experience have a completely different story. So not all of it is bad, but for me in particular, it was not a smart idea to use that sport as a goal because I already had suffered from body image and eating disorders previously before I entered my first competition.” (9:41)
“There were so many times that I really should have stopped, but I didn't. The obsessiveness was more powerful than anything I could have controlled at that time.” (19:48)
“It was only when I went to eating disorder counseling and stopped competing that I started validating myself. And it was a game-changer.” (23:52)
“My poor body was going through hell, and I didn't listen until I had had enough. And I think until you have had enough, you can't help anybody, until they are ready, and I was finally ready.” (31:08)
“The ultimate form of control is trust. And the control isn't working anymore. So if it is not working anymore, what are you getting out of it?” (36:24)
Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here
Deanna Harder Online Coaching Programs
Follow Deanna on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Check out the full show notes here!
Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
LTYB 342: Fitness Trackers and Listening to Your Body
LTYB 219: How To Lead With Purpose & Positivity with Jill Coleman
Do you struggle with the concept of giving yourself permission to do or not do the things you really want? Like taking a rest day, sleeping in, eating enough to nourish your body, or setting boundaries and saying no? You are not alone in this struggle. However, when you can give yourself the radical permission you deserve, you can take care of yourself and those you love in a transformative new way.
If You Want To Allow Yourself Radical Permission, You Should:
Compassion Warrior Hayden Dawes
Hayden Dawes is a social worker, therapist, researcher, speaker, and self-proclaimed ‘Compassion Warrior’ passionate about helping people give themselves permission, do what they want to do, and reclaim their power. Hayden has harnessed his past to examine our social systems and find a way to help people connect to the larger community of humanity.
Writing Your Own Permission Slip
Many of us are used to seeking permission from an external source, such as a teacher, coach, parent, partner, or boss. Have you ever considered that you have the power to write your own permission slip? A permission slip is an opportunity to come back to yourself and ensure that you are not abandoning yourself whatever you decide to do or not do.
By raising your permission consciousness over time, you can lean into self-compassion and choose to live more expansive and open lives.
Creating Self-Compassion Through Radical Permission
Being compassionate and giving yourself permission can feel scary and vulnerable. While being your authentic self can feel like a risk, it is the only way that you will become connected to the larger community of humanity.
Some people believe that giving themselves compassion will end their accountability or dedication. This is not the case! Hayden wants you to know that there is space for both, and by practicing coming back to the expert within yourself, you can sustain yourself through self-compassion and radical permission.
Are you ready to start listening to your body and giving yourself the permission you have been longing for? Share what you loved most about Hayden’s vision with me in the comments on the episode page.
Quotes
“I really use it as an invitation for everyone to air our their grievance in a way that can be really healthy. Because in a lot of ways, if we don’t, it will work its way out in other ways that really aren’t as healthy.” (8:08)
“I try to use my work first and foremost to help myself so that I can help others help themselves. It’s a reciprocal, bidirectional relationship.” (14:12)
“A permission slip is an opportunity to come back to yourself and not abandon yourself. Because whether that coach, that teacher, that doctor, your partner is for you on the other side of the thing you decided to do or not do, I would hope that you haven’t abandoned yourself.” (20:23)
“There is enough space for accountability and self-compassion.” (29:20)
“When your parents gave you a permission slip to go on a field trip, most people wanted to go, but I’m sure if you didn’t go, it probably wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. So let’s just take the pressure off of everything.” (37:47)
Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here
Follow Hayden on Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
Check out the full show notes here!
Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
LTYB 305: Using Body Language To Understand Yourself and Others Better with Tiff Lee
LTYB 298: How to Show Up More Authentically with Grace Edison