Why looking good is not enough | BYF SERIES #7

[Music] Hello my gorgeous humans, welcome back to another episode of the Build Your Foundation series. This is the second last episode of this series. I am loving the feedback you guys are giving me and sending me in my DMs and commenting about this series. It's really awesome to see that this kind of structure has benefited you guys in like series forms so I'm going to have to think about another series. I'm going to have to come up with like a confidence series or fitness series or something else series because I feel like this structure is actually really cool. I can really focus on one topic and we can really dive into it. So today's episode because each episode so far in the series, if you've been following along and been listening to each of them, if this is where you've landed today and this is your first episode of the series, welcome welcome welcome welcome, it's not they're not really in any particular order so it doesn't really matter which one you listen to so you don't need to pause this and go back to one, you can listen to this one today and then go back to episode one however you want if I can do it doesn't really matter. But each episode has a specific theme. Today's episode is all about longevity. Okay so the mindset and relationship that you have with fitness is so important and it will be the thing that determines whether you're consistent with it or not. So we're speaking about longevity, we're speaking about an extremely important part of building your foundation because remember this entire series is about building your foundation. So if you're someone who is constantly stopping and starting is sucked into all the diets, all the trends, skinny culture, all that kind of thing, this is where we're building step-by-step the bricks. I think of each episode each one of these episodes as like a brick to kind of lay your foundation to a hotline, a lifestyle with health and fitness that feels empowering, that feels strong, healthy and you have freedom. That freedom that you're constantly searching for when you're not constantly second-guessing yourself with health and fitness, these are the foundations, right? So today's episode is all about longevity and that mindset relationship that you have with fitness because how you see and like the why behind why you do things is really, really big. And we've spoken about the why many, many times, but it is massive, okay? The first thing I want to say to kick us off, actually, no, we're not going to go there yet. Wait, I need to say something before we continue. I've had a lot of you guys jumping in my DMs about one-on-one coaching. My books are currently closed. I may open some spots. I'm just rearranging some things in my life because I need to make sure that I actually have the capacity to take more on. So those of you on the wait list, stay on it, obviously. But in the meantime, what I want to do is I can support you elsewhere, okay? It's not as direct and personalised as what one-on-one coaching is, but it will absolutely start to kick off the journey for you. That is club thrive. So for those of you also listening and going, oh, I don't really want one-on-one coaching, but I'd love to be an Izzy's world. Jump into club thrive. The membership is for you. It is $27 a month, okay? That is a fucking bargain. It is not going to be that price forever. I can tell you that for free. Right now while I'm building it out and it is growing, it is $27 a month, jump in. You get direct access to me. So you get to ask me questions. You get to be like in my DMs on a daily basis because I am your coach. You get training programmes, nutrition guidance, habits, support. We also have quarterly calls. So calls every three months for you to jump in. We can do an audit. We can see what the plan is for the next three months. We can, yeah, we have a big chat and I kind of go here. This is what you need to focus on. This is what you need to go and do. Here's what you need to go and look at in club thrive for that support. Go and do it and then talk to me along the way kind of vibe. So it is still a one-on-one kind of thing, but I'm just not building out programmes for you. I'm not building out like big structures and things like that. If that changes in the future, who knows? But for those of you who are waiting for one-on-one, those of you who maybe don't want one-on-one, that is absolutely the place to be. Then we can transition you when my capacity opens for one-on-one coaching at the moment. So I thought I would mention that because the enquiry is coming in. I want to direct you somewhere. I don't want to kind of feel like you guys are in space kind of just like waiting and hoping and da-da-da-da. If you have any questions about that as well, please jump in my DMs and ask me, okay, I do not bite, bite, okay? I give big hugs. So jump on in, we'll have a chat and we'll even see if it's the right space for you because sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's actually not the space for you and you actually need a different level of support so I will direct you that direction. So getting into today's episode, the first thing I want to say, the day that you accept that fitness is forever is the day that you stop worrying about how long it actually is going to take. So first thing that you really need to accept and get through your brains is fitness is forever, okay? It's not an eight-week challenge and then it's done and you get to live the rest of your know. Fitness is forever. It's something that you dedicate weekend, week out because it's in, it's a level of honoring your body and if there's something that we have no, we know through this series so far is if you treat your body with disrespect, don't expect it to respect you back. Okay, so we need to understand and nurture our most natural system and taking care of our body in the way that it needs to be taken care of. Okay, if we don't ask much from our body, it's not going to give us much back at all, okay? Give it disrespect. It's going to give you disrespect. It's not going to give you much. So we get to ask more of it. We got to give it more. We've got to nurture it more, honor it more, respect it more and it will give us that back times 10. Okay, so obviously today's episode is all about fitness specifically. It is about training. It is about exercise. It's about your dream body. It's about all that. Okay, if every single fucking episode is about your dream body, if that's the goal that you kind of have in mind, one thing that I remember, remember that this is about your foundation of the human that you are the lifestyle that you're building. So this is one of the bricks because obviously it comes down to training. It comes down to how we see training. It comes down to our mindset with that and your dream body should not be a nightmare to maintain full stop end of story. It should not be a nightmare to maintain. Okay, especially if you want to enjoy your life. Okay, you if you have to go through extreme lengths to maintain your physique, it is most likely not where your body wants to be. Okay, most likely your body does not want to be there and it's going to be giving you a hell of a lot of signs to say that, but you're not listening because you're chasing a physique that you think is going to make you happy. Okay, everyone wants to look good and love what they say in the mirror. Like no one is immune to that. Okay, we all want that. But the body that requires you to be so dramatic and extreme 24/7 is most likely not your healthiest or your strongest body. And you really do need to ask yourself the question of what's the sacrifice that you actually want? What are you willing to sacrifice because in the chase for this body that you think is going to make you the happiest person, you're missing out on things that will actually probably make you even happier. Okay, you're sacrificing your life, dinner with friends and family, eating good food, becoming really strong and building an empowered mindset. You're sacrificing all those things for spending two hours on the standmaster, eating a thousand calories. It's not fucking worth it. It's not worth it at all and you don't have to take it all the way to the top. We have this all nothing mindset with physique, right? It's either this or it's that. No, it is the strongest version of you. It is putting, it is putting the work in to a point where you're like, I'm respecting the shit out of my body and I'm showing myself what I'm actually capable of. That doesn't mean becoming a professional athlete. That just means having daily standards for yourself that you don't negotiate on. You go to the gym because of the things that it does for you. You go for a walk because the way it makes you feel. You eat good food because of the impact that it has on your life, your physique, your mind and everything. So you don't have to take it to such an extreme and think, oh, well, if I start training really hard, what am I doing? Training for the Olympics? No. You're proving to yourself that you're actually worth respecting. You're showing your body that you're teaching it. This is what I'm giving. Hey, give me something back. So really just ask yourself that question of what is it that you're willing to sacrifice? For chasing this physique that you think is going to make you so fucking happy, but I can guarantee you that the other things that you're missing out on are probably going to make you even happier, but also in the process you actually do build a physique that you respect the shit of and that is protecting you for life. And it is giving you back life. Okay. So ask yourself that question. Do you want to spend two hours on the standmaster and eat a thousand calories and sacrifice all those things? Is that worth it to you for this life? Because at the end of the day, do whatever the fuck you want to do, it is your life. Like do whatever you want to do, it is your life. You get to choose. That is the point. You get to choose and what you are currently choosing is your choice. So pick better if that's what you want. If you don't want to feel riddled with anxiety, lack confidence, low self-worth, struggle with all or nothing. Look in the mirror and not really love what you see feel like a stranger in the body that you're in. Struggle with the feelings that you feel within the body that you're in. If you're like, yeah, you know what? Know that actually kind of fucking sucks. I would love to be able to enjoy my life a little bit more. or I would love to have a physique that I reap the benefits of discipline, confidence, self-respect, self-trust. I actually can enjoy lunch out with my family and not dread every single second of it. I would love to reap the benefits of what that feels like for my life and also protect my future. Cool, choose different. Okay, I am not your fitness coach for bulking and cutting. I am not your fitness coach for constant weight loss. Okay, there is enough out there. I am not talking about constant dieting or calorie counting or being so physique-obsessed that it restricts you from life. Okay, I'm not a bodybuilding coach for a reason. Is it wrong? Is wanting to be a bodybuilding. Oh, is like being a bodybuilding coach wrong? No, is wanting to bodybuild and get yourself on to stage for competition wrong? No, but it's not for everyone. And we've taken the fitness industry's absolutely run home. The bodybuilding physique that people work so fucking hard for and it is not sustainable. That lifestyle and that body is not sustainable but is what the fitness industry has idolized for a really long time is stage physique and everyone thinks they need to look like that. Even people who compete in that industry say you cannot look like this 24/7. This is not sustainable, yet people are trying to. Okay, I am not that coach for a reason and I started this journey out going down like I studied exercise science at university. I went down the route of working with athletes and doing that sort of thing and I landed in the performance industry and it was a really, really good place to land for me. And I was sitting there one day at practice with a 40 team and I was like, you know what, I fucking hate this. I don't like it, I got no passion in it. There's a reason why all these things led me to general population, to lifestyle, to living a really good life because that is what I've been taught since the day I was born. And there's a reason why I landed back here working with general population and there's a reason why I didn't go down the bodybuilding route and God, like I am so grateful for that. I have been in the fitness industry for a very, very long time and I've seen many, many different things. That physique that you are trying to achieve and trying to chase the girls that have that, I can't tell you behind the scenes how much they just don't show. Okay, and I'm not shaming these girls in any way, but I'm saying that idolizing this physique is a sacrifice to a really beautiful life. And I'm trying to be that example. I feel like I am that example for you guys because I'm very strong on practice what you preach. Big on practice what you preach. When I left the performance industry, well, performance industry, it sounds like I'm like, I didn't sound like I thought of like dance then, the performance industry. When I left strengthening conditioning facilities and I was really out of kind of like athlete focused and I turned more to everyday gyms. And when I say everyday gyms, just your 24/7 typical gyms, we all go to not actual performance facilities, exercise science facilities. When I landed in these gyms, I was like, oh my God, this is the thing. The stuff behind the scenes, the eating disorders, the mindset, the loss of periods, the most unnatural state a body's not meant to be in that I saw with these girls that bodybuilder and did these things. I was like, oh, I was like, wow. I landed where I was meant to land for a reason. And I took me, it took me a really long time to really honor that. I fell back into, oh, I should be this coach and I should be this coach and I should, you know, whatever, and I was like, no, you're here for a reason. It is due what you are so fucking good at and teach people to have the most beautiful relationship with health and fitness and that they get to achieve the results while also enjoying their life too. Because the fitness industry is really going down a scary place and I don't think that or not, I don't think, but I know, I don't want to go that direction. That's for fucking sure. Life is not about bulking and cutting 24/7. Life is not about constantly dieting. Life is not about counting calories 24/7. I'm not for that. That's not the life I've lived. That's not the life I am ever actually going to live. So I did the things I did for a reason and I'm gonna teach you to do the same. Okay, I'm the fitness coach for if you wanna actually show yourself what you're actually capable of. Build strong, sustainable habits that support you for lifetime. That support you for a lifetime. Okay, build a body that you love because understanding that the two can coexist, you can build a body that you love and enjoy your life at the same time. Building that body you love and that loves you back and that's the biggest missing piece is loves you back and a sacrificing. All of that, sacrificing a body that loves you back and is where it's meant to be for a physique that you think is gonna make you happy. I can guarantee you right now, you're going to end up later on in your years looking back going, fuck, I wish I didn't do that. I really wish I didn't, okay? I'm the coach if you wanna resilient mindset and a beautiful relationship to food and you wanna enjoy this life and you wanna get the most out of it. While having both, okay, work hard, put the effort in and you will reap the rewards. So I am that coach for you. Okay, I'm not, for so long, I've tried to manipulate and been this like, I feel like we're taking a very different direction with this episode. I didn't plan to speak about this at all. At all, yeah, if I can go down here and I've got a great t-shirt on it and I don't know why I'm starting to sweat in this room. I need some airflow. We've seriously gone down a completely different route but I really just want you guys to understand that we can have both and that sacrifice of life is nah. Not for me, I'm not signing up to that, absolutely not. Because if you wanna be that 70 year old that's dancing on the balcony with her girlfriend's realizing, wow, I spent my life loving myself, not hating myself, then this episode is 1,000% for you and you need to keep listening even though we're probably 20 minutes into it already. Sorry, it's where we've landed. But if you wanna be that 70 year old that is realizing, yeah, I spent my life loving myself and I've been the strongest, healthiest version. I have so many memories over the dinner table and I enjoyed myself and not stressed about every single little thing that I ate and did and blah, blah, blah. Then keep listening because this is another brick that you need to go and collect, bring over and lay in your foundation and use extra-strong concrete because guess what? This brick ain't going anywhere. We need this one the most. So when we think about fitness, okay? We're gonna go through a couple of different things that I want you to think of with your perspective. I wanna think about, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Muscle is insurance, okay? Muscle is insurance. Insurance that your strength will follow you through each stage of life, okay? The habits you build today ensure the level of independence that you maintain later on. You choose today, okay? Youth is currently on your side. So utilize the fact that you are more energetic, that you are more full with vitality and life and everything and protect that. Protect that for as long as you possibly can, okay? Your independence, your quality of life, think of training as more than just for how you look. Like I said before, yeah, we all wanna look good. Cool, cool, it's not all about that, okay? It's to take care of how you get to live and what that actually feels like for the rest of your life. Many people, the number one question, is the hack for consistency? Hack, the hack, the hack. Well, there's no fucking hack. It's just hard fucking work. But if I can say one thing, it's to see things for more than just a number. Stop focusing on the numbers. Even if that number doesn't necessarily have a negative effect, okay? For example, the weight that you lift, okay? We're lifting strong. Cool, that's not necessarily a bad number because it's showing us where we're lifting quite strong. But I wanna challenge that and I wanna say, stop thinking about the weight that you lift to. How about you see it as protection for being able to get up from chairs in the future, from picking up the groceries with ease, to continue to dance, to spend your life living instead of being on the sidelines. So not struggled to get out of a chair to do the everyday things with ease. How about you think about weights like that? I strength train because this is what it gives me. The reason why this is so important is because this is what keeps you consistent because there's no emotion attached to this. You're like, yeah, okay, cool. Oh, but today I don't feel that good and oh my god, I'm not even lifting as much as I would usually lift because you're attached to that number. Versus, I'm going to the gym today regardless of what it feels like, you know, oh, I'm not telling you to push through exhaustion and be an asshole to yourself. But it's from a place of, no, I feel good. I'm just fucking sad. Okay, sis, you go do your strength session. You're probably gonna actually feel so much better after it. But you're going, why? Because it's protection. I'm going because this is taking care of me. I'm going because week in and week out the decisions that I make today decide how the my future feels. I actually think value that. I highly value my future. So I'm going to protect it. Okay, bone density is another thing that people completely overlook. Now why I'm speaking about these things specifically because this is where respect for your nature. natural system comes into play and I've spoken about that a lot through this series, especially when building a foundation is understanding, remove your personality, your values, your beliefs, your all of that. You are a bag of bones, okay, you are a human being with bones, muscle, blood, hair, you've got all these heart lungs, there's all these different functions, all these different things in your body. How do we take care of those things? What do I do to nurture those things? Because these things naturally over time begin to decline, okay, how do we nurture those things? We strengthen them. How do I strengthen my bone density, up, strength training, impact, good food, all of these things is where respect for your natural system comes into play. So understanding you are a human being with bones, how do I take care of that? I'm a human being with muscle that literally holds me upright, keeps me strong, keeps me walking on a day-to-day basis, how do I protect that? The consequences of not doing this can be risk of fracturing a bone when you fall in your future, okay, specifically your hip, okay, and the percentage of older adults that die within one year from suffering a hip fracture is 20 to 30%, okay, it's not a fucking joke. This is where chasing skinny is very dangerous and I don't stand for it. I just, I won't have the conversation. You can achieve a lean physique while also protecting your strength at the same time, okay, strength training does not make you bulky and if someone says that one more time, I'm going to use my big muscles to slap you across the face, not actually, for legal reasons, not actually, but I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to say it, I'm going to say, you know what, say it one more time, it does not. Do we all look different? Do we all have different physiques? Does strength and muscle look different on whether you are shorter or taller? Yes, it absolutely does. Should that stop you from putting muscle on your body? Ask yourself the question, what are you willing to sacrifice? You can achieve a lean physique while protecting your strength at the same time. Strength training does not equal muscle growth, okay, you can protect and strengthen a muscle without it necessarily growing, but we need to also understand that hyper fixating on that is not the point. You've missed the whole point. Be the strongest version of yourself because of what it gives you back. Most of the time, bulkiness comes from excess fat, not from muscle. So excess body fat is the reason. So when you start to shift your habits, the way you eat, how much you move within a day, you'll sleep, your stress management, this will start to work its way to a physique where you're like, okay, my habits are supporting this physique and I'm really fucking happy with where it is because the sacrifice is not my life. Okay, so when I say you can achieve a lean physique while protecting your strength at the same time, it requires effort and it cannot be bought. Okay, skinny can be bought. Strength cannot be bought. Insurance for your future, for quality of life cannot be bought. It is something that you earn. It is effort that you put in. Okay, so ask yourself that question of what is more important to you, the current season trends or the rest of your goddamn life. Okay, because the truth of the matter is you are going to physically change. Okay, this is something that you cannot stop, no matter how hard some people try, you will hit a point where old age finds you. No matter who you are, no matter how much Botox you have in your face, old age is going to find you. The decisions you make today will either make those years harder or easier. And there's a massive point that people really overlook and don't get is prioritising protecting muscle is where the physique of an older woman looks amazing. Muscle is what gives you shape. Muscle is what makes you look toned. Okay, you can't fucking tone a bone. My girl, you can't do it. You create shape through muscle. So if you want to achieve that toned look and you're not strength training and you're not protecting muscle, then yeah, we've got a problem because you're in delusion land. There's so many other things that strength does for us. Okay, now one thing in particular, motherhood. Okay, that's the strength, the strength. That's the direction that you actually are choosing to go. Building the habit now is easier than trying to build it once you're also dealing with other things in your life. Okay, not just that, but the actual benefits that strength training provides your body during pregnancy. Okay, which are many on a physical, but also hormonal, metabolic, emotional, mental health level. There's just so much to it. It's the same as really anything. Build the, excuse me. Build the habit now. So if you're, because a lot of people say, well, is he, I'm in my 60s. Is it too late? No, it's not too late. Start now. So then a lot of younger people go, well, if it's not too late, I'll just start when I'm 60. I'll tell you this right now, building the habit today will make it so much easier for you to continue on and it just become who you are than trying to start later on in life. Building the habit now is so much easier and gives you that freedom and ease laid on in life. But also you've got to remember skipping over the things like the things that give you quality of life and protect your future are benefiting you today. So not doing them purely because you're like, well, if it's not too late when I'm 60, I'll just start then. No, because you've got, say, your 25, you have, I'm going to do a really quick math here, 30, 35 years until you're 60. What are you going to do and live and how are you going to feel in those 35 years because boy, I want to be flirty, sexy, fun and free for those years. I can tell you that because they are the prime times. They are the prime years. Does that mean later on your life isn't no, but that is a big chunk of your mid life where you get to live so much life. Like I said, choose then comes the life giving part to training. Actually, no, before I go back into that, let's go back to motherhood for a second. If you were choosing to become a mum and that's the direction that you wish to go, your body is going to change. And if you're practicing the habit now of strength training, nurturing yourself, taking care of yourself, regardless of whether you, and this is something I haven't personally experienced, I'm hoping that it does become a season in my life very soon. And I'm hoping that this is the experience that I get to have. But when I think about being pregnant and my body changing, I get excited. I get excited because, oh my gosh, I'm growing a human. I'm growing nails and hair and toes and a heart and lungs. And are you taking the piss? Is that for real that my body is doing that? Yes, I've had, I have beautiful women in my life that are the example for me of what it's like to experience that. And they're like, yeah, you start to feel like a stranger in your body because you haven't experienced that before in your body is changing in so many ways. It operates a little bit different. You feel a little bit different. You do start to feel a little bit like a stranger, but it's not when you have the previous mindset and yeah, perspective towards all of that. You can see it as something so beautiful and you honor it still on a day to day basis and you welcome it, especially when you know you're growing your child. And that's just so beautiful. So the habit now and and building yourself towards that. And that's not to say that after you haven't done it, you've already had kids after is not it's any time in your life. You get to start and you get to choose differently. It's seeing all these things for what they are and what they give back to you. And that's the life giving part. I've had a beautiful mum jump into my DMs and say this podcast in itself and me just talking about these things has helped her lose weight and completely transform the fact that she felt lost after having two kids under two. And I can't tell you the joy that a message like that brings me like it actually bring me to tears of the joy and fulfillment that it feels for me to have imparted a fact of stop wasting your life chasing something that's not going to give you joy and start chasing things that do. And that's where honoring ourselves and respecting ourselves and showing up. It's hard work. Okay. It's like I said, it's not something that we buy. It's a daily commitment to ourselves to say, Hey, I'm training because of what it gives me of the respect that I build. That's it. I'm not letting myself down. I'm not betraying myself. I'm becoming the strongest, most resilient version of me. And that means showing up. That's the life giving part. Okay. On top of all the rest of hiking, traveling, playing with our grandchildren, not needing a walker at 60, having the energy to be a part of life and not live it on the sidelines just watching. Everyone throws out the term yellow. And it's like, yeah, you only fucking live once. So like guess what? You don't get to decide when you die. No one has that decision. So you can sacrifice your future with the decisions you make today. But when you hit those later years in your life, you still have to live them sis. Okay. Do you want to live them in a chair or do you want to live them up and about? Do you want to live them feeling a little bit more full of being a bit more full of vitality and energy and life or being like shit. Yeah, I should have really actually taken care of myself a little bit more. That's and it's not that because there's some people that are the example that a lot of people throw at. Oh my uncle drank and smoked careers and fuck he was good. He's still running around with us. Yeah. He's like the small percent. Do you want to risk? Do you want to risk that? Do you want to risk the chance that you're going to be a part of it? of the small percentage, or do you want to just put a couple of good habits in place that are actually just going to help put you that little bit more forward, give you a little bit more insurance that maybe, you know, you'll be good at that age too. You don't know. You don't know what the future is going to decide for you. So the fact that you're in an able body now and you have the choice and the opportunity, I would personally be choosing it because that's the choice that is still in your hands. There are some people who don't have that choice. So when the choice is still in your hands, are you taking it for granted? And hoping, oh yeah, I'll be fine. How do you know that? How do you actually know that? You don't know. You don't even know if tomorrow is guaranteed for you. And that's not in an intent to scare you or put fear into you. It's to go, yeah, you know, what I really do need to grab life by the balls and pull really fucking hard. And these are the things that are going to feed back into me to for me to then be able to go and do that. When I think about health and fitness, health and fitness and like training specifically is not meant to become your whole fucking personality. It's meant to be a part of your life. It's meant to be something. And this is what I'm big on when it comes to making fitness be a part of your life, not your entire fucking life. That's why I say to people, I was like, I train through the week because the weekends I live. And like, if you train in the weekends, it doesn't mean you don't. Sometimes we've got to fit it in where we do. But I'm saying I train three to four times a week because I don't want for 30 to 40 minutes because I get my results from that. I feel good from that. I read the benefits from that. I don't need to spend every single day two hours of the day being in the gym. No, the gym is not my life. I have a life. The gym just is a part of my life. Training is a part of my life. Movement has become a bigger part of my life because I see movement as more than just being in the gym. It's playing with the dogs, the kids, my nieces, every like being active with friends and family going out and doing things, hiking, dancing, swimming, walking, doing all the different things. Just living your life. So yeah, you actually, yeah, you only live once. How do you want that to feel? Because you can throw the whole, well, things happen, yeah, they do happen. Things out of your control can happen, but at least if they do, you know that you still do, did your absolute best with the things that were in your control at the time. So you don't have to question that choice. Get her on in my life. If I just so happen to genetics, kick in and just so happen to get breast cancer because that's a very big, strong thing in my genetic line. If that so happens to happen, I know that I prioritize my health and fitness and my nutrition. So I know it's just out of my control. Am I manifesting? Fuck no, not. But I'm talking, I'm taking this to the next level. So you guys can really understand my perspective with it is if it happens, it happens. But I know right now that I'm living a life that is nurturing those parts where if whatever happens in the future, fucking happens. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know. Am I going to live in fear now and say what's the point? Fuck it. I don't know. I'm going to nurture my body and honor my body because I don't know what's going to happen. So I'm going to at least protect it and reap the benefits right now today to live the best possible fucking life I can because life is short. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. So right now I am living my best life and for me to be able to do that, I need to feel energetic and not full of anxiety and fear and all these different things that have held me back from living my best life, I want to feel like I can go out and do all the things I want to do because like I said, tomorrow is not guaranteed. So I'm not taking today for granted. What is in my control? They're the things that I funnel in and right now I have an abled body. I am healthy. I am energetic. I am young and I'm going to take that seriously. And this is where if you want to build a stronger, more life-giving relationship to fitness, this is where your why needs to sit. Why you're doing it needs to be so strong that like for me, for example, is tomorrow's not guaranteed. I saw what it's like for someone to lose all their strength. So I'm never going to take my strength for granted again because I understand the privilege that that is that I still have it to today. I value my future. I know when I'm 70 plus that I would love to still run around with my grandkids and have the energy and the strength and the quality of life to do so. That is a big value of mine. Massive value. I want to be a representation of respect and strength for my kids. So I can be that role model for them. I want to show them what hard work does and the confidence you can build in becoming someone that you respect. And that's got nothing to do with 100% of the way that you look. That's a part of it. But it's how you see things and it's why you show up for that. So your why needs to be so rooted in that perspective. Not I want to look better because skin is trending right now. Yeah, that's not going to last very long. I'll tell you that for free. The goal is not to look good for next summer. It's to live well for decades. Okay? Write it out, stick it on your wall and remind yourself of that every fucking morning. If you skip the gym over an afternoon, write it out and stick it in on your car window on your dash. Okay? The goal isn't to look good for next summer. That's why you show up today because it compounds over time and turns you into that girl. Okay? The goal isn't to build a summer body every year. It's to build a body for life. So you don't have to continuously be chasing something. It is just who you are. That is it. Day in and day out. It's just who you are. When you achieve that, you get so much more freedom in your decisions. When you train for something bigger than the physique that's currently trending, you actually begin to build consistency in your lifestyle. You build sustainable habits that pay off more in the long run. Okay? And this is where the freedom so many people keep trying to chase actually lives. In this look, right here, when you train for something bigger than the physique that's currently trending, you try and chase skinny, you buy skinny, you think that's what it is. You try and be the smallest version of yourself instead of going actually, I want to be the strongest, healthiest body right now because that's going to give me the best life today and in my future. Okay? It gets me to the reflection and take away action part of this. This is kind of like your thing that you can take from this episode. Ask yourself the questions, start to ponder on it. What this is reflection? What do you want your 60 to 70 year old self to still be able to do because of the choices you're making today? And it can be what do you want your 60 to 70 year old self to feel because of the choices you're making today? How do I want my 60 to 70 year old self to feel? Because of the choices I'm making today, ponder. When you picture her and you start to actually nurture her and she starts to say thank you for taking care of me because of the choices you're making today. What is it? How do you want that version of you to feel? Then the takeaway action, this is something that I really do want you to lean into. Okay? If you're listening to this, I really do want you to lean into this. It can be something that when I say it, you're going to be like, yeah, what's the point? The point's like a massive, I've written many, many letters and that's just given you a hint to what it is. I've written done this many, many times and I cannot tell you the impact that it's had on me to be able to put words to paper, to be able to express different emotions, to be able to picture things differently. I have saved these letters. I still have all these letters and I've written them to very many, many different people. But writing a letter, this is the takeaway action I want you to do. Write a letter from your 60 year old self thanking you for one habit you started today. Write a letter, be it you are your 60 year old self looking down on who you, the version of you right now, if you are 60 and you're listening to this, then think about the different things that you could be doing today to protect 70 year old you, 80 year old you. You can jump like it doesn't, if you're 80 listening to this, there's never too late. Every single little thing you start to do can upward trend new and put like I say, like the parachute on things, like I said, anything you do to from the perspective of protecting future version of you, benefits today you, so it's never a waste of time no matter what age you are. So write a letter from your 60 year old self thanking you for one habit you started today, then commit to doing one thing this week that supports that future version of you, non-negotiable standard. This is who I'm becoming and this is what I'm choosing to do because it takes care of me. It's something I'm going to finish this episode with as well as a reminder, these non-negotiables. So strength training, eating three well-rounded meals a day built from majority whole foods, single food ingredients, getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night, increasing your daily movement, aiming for like eight K plus steps is a great starting point, not because of the number, but because it gives you a good idea and a good example of the movement and how much you are moving throughout the day. That's it. It's to encourage you to move more and be more active. Getting outside as much as you can, being in sunlight, if you're indoors, fucking crack a window or something, nervous system regulation, feeling your emotions, being one with your emotions, not ignoring them. If you want to be an emotionally intelligent him being, you need to be able to feel anger, sadness, grief, disappointment, shame, guilt, all these things and not turn a blind eye to yourself, not abandon yourself in the process of feeling those emotions, okay? That's probably one of the biggest ones that a lot of people need to work in. is learning to deal with your emotions, because if you know what to do, which a lot of you do, I know what to do. It's fucking everything every time, every one of you say that to me. Love you all, big hugs. But if you knew what to do, why aren't you fucking doing it? Okay, if logic was everything, then you'd be doing it. Okay, no, emotion. You're led by emotions. We need to fix the fact that you're not emotionally intelligent. The minute you feel stressed, you abandon yourself, we need to fucking sort that out. They're the basic things, okay? Strength training, nutrition, sleep, stress management, hydration, obviously, drink your water, getting outside, being in nature more, they're your basic human survival needs, okay? They're the foundation. If you are not even doing those, do not even begin to question where the fuck the results are, because if you're not doing those, and not even being and being consistent with them for at least three months, and I'm talking week in and week out. One or day, like one or two days missed here or there, not one or two days missed every week. No, consistency is doing it every single day, and you just miss a day or two here or there. Not, okay, I'm consistent for three days, and then I'm off for four, and then I'm consistent for five, then I'm off for two, and then I'm consistent for three, and then I'm off for 10. Like, no, that's not consistency, sorry. There, the basis. Applying those to your life looks different for everyone. How you strength train is gonna look different person to person based off your schedule, where you're at in your journey, all the different things. Eating three well-rounded meals a day is gonna look different person to person. I came here to give you an example. I have a client who lives in the outback. I have a client who works on a cruise ship. I have a client in a really busy season of building her business, uni, and just wanting to live life at the same time and achieve health, health, and fitness goals. I have girls in so many different situations that following a structured meal plan and being so specific is actually not the answer for them right now. So making it work for them in scenarios, every single one of those scenarios is different. How I've applied it to every single one of them is different, same as they're training, same as they're training, but remembering that we're building a lifestyle and I'm expanding the way that they see it. So the way you apply every single one of those daily human survival needs, our bare minimum standards is gonna look different person to person. Not everyone is gonna, some people are gonna walk 10 to 15 K a day naturally with their job. I'm like, you don't need to go for extra walks if you don't need to. There are gonna be some people who sit on their ass every single day and say, you absolutely need to go for a walk, go for a walk, move more, move more, move more, move more because you need to. You're in a position where it is needed versus someone who has a cleaning job. Using one of my clients as an example, she is literally moving and working and walking and cleaning all day long. Sis, unless you wanna go for an afternoon walk for mental health because there's so many more benefits than walking for literally how we look and doing all those things and this is the perspective side of things. Go for a 20 minute walk to calm your nervous system down, take a chill pill, bend, nature, all the things, do it. This is how we apply these things and how we work our lifestyles and it's not about rigid routines and I don't believe in rigid routines, I believe in habits that we carry through when we prioritize because they're important for us. So just remembering, don't be questioning way, don't have the results if they in some way or not are not a foundation in your week to week life because they are the basics. Stop overlooking the basics. You don't need all these supplements. You don't need fancy gym gear. You just need to wear an old t-shirt and shorts that you've had in your cupboard for a very long time and you need to get into the gym because if you don't, you're missing the whole fucking point. And this is where that over-consumption direction in the fitness industry that is just where losing the point were missing the actual point of life and what health and fitness was meant to be. It's meant to be just a part of our life not our entire fucking life. Okay, got it? Love you. If this episode hit home and you wanna keep these conversations going, don't forget to hit the follow button and stick around. Please helps me out so much sharing this episode as well is sending the frickin', what do you wanna call it? The algorithm through the roof. So send this to someone that you feel like needs to hear this and following this episode really helps me out so much. I appreciate every single one of you that do. This is the Growth Mindset podcast. I'll chat to you guys in the next episode. Until then, keep chasing your higher self like she owes you your happiest life. Love you, bye. (upbeat music)