How to Start a Fitness Journey When You're Too Busy

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These things are so important. If anybody was to ask me, how do I start my fitness journey right now? I would be like, why do you want to do this? Why do you want to lose that weight? Why do you want to feel better? Let's dig a little bit deeper.

What's going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott. Or if you are new to the show, welcome to the show. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, and welcome to episode number 71, where I am going to talk about how to navigate starting a fitness journey in the summer or in the busy months of the year.

My ultimate goal for this podcast today is to stop the "I am too busy" excuse. If you guys are running on that story, and it's the middle of June right now or moving into July and you're saying I'm too busy, I'm going to squash that right now today in this podcast. And I'm going to help you understand how, if you are choosing... remember I said a couple podcasts ago, summer shreds and all these challenges and stuff like that.

If you are choosing to start your fitness journey right now, it is probably one of the hardest times of the year to start it. And also, like I said, one of the busiest times to start it, because if you have kids, or in general in the summer months, there's a lot going on. Traveling, kids are home, you're not in your normal routine. So there are all of these things flying up in your space right now. And the easiest thing for a lot of people to do is say, I am too busy. But if you're choosing to start at this time, that's on you.

You're choosing to start at this time, and there is no better time to start. Okay, so to dive right into it today: the busier that you are, the better the time it is to start. Because life is always going to have busy seasons. And if you can't figure out how to do it during the busy seasons, then this isn't going to last. The things that you want to accomplish with the goals you have in mind aren't going to last. This is honestly, in my opinion, the best time to start. It is 150% the best time to start if you are starting your fitness journey.

Because if you can't figure out how to do it during the busy seasons, then being able to do it during the slow seasons isn't going to last. You can learn so much about your time, your energy, you as a person, about conquering the things that you want when you're busy. Because you're going to really pay attention to prioritizing what is so important to you. And this is the best time to do it, in my opinion, right?

What better time to start than when you're busy? I'm going to share a couple of things that can help you navigate your fitness journey during the summer, during the busy months, but I'm going to save that. Before we dive into those specific points: there is no better time to do it than right now. And on top of that, if you are busy now, there are all the things that you can focus on and prioritize of what is important for you to get to your goal. So, looking at it as a summer or as a busy month,

I challenge you to figure it out during this time. Because if you can figure it out during this time, when the slow months come and the kids go back to school, or you're getting back into your routine come fall and winter, what you've just learned how to do for yourself in the summer months with your fitness journey, staying focused and prioritizing, is going to be 10 times easier come those slower months, okay?

Now, if you are somebody that constantly says that you are too busy on the reg, like every single one of the 365 days of the year is just busy in general, look, there's probably a plethora of things I could pull out and be like, dude, let's pay attention to this and let's see how you do have time. But there's this one thing, because I see it a lot in my immediate family. I challenge you to look at your screen time on your phone. I challenge you to look at how much time you're spending scrolling on social media.

And right then and there, I can tell you, I just found you time, right? I just found you your time. You have the time to meal prep in that. So think about the time that you're spending, the screen time in general. I don't know the exact average, but it's very high. It's probably like six, seven hours a day of screen time. And then you narrow it down to what it could be for social media. There's probably an hour or two or three spent on social media, scrolling through

TikTok and looking at Facebook and seeing what this person said about this comment on this picture. And then you start getting into this whole communication thread about what is going on in this picture from this post. And then you start talking to your family about it, your husband about it. There's your time. Okay, there's your time to meal prep. There's your time to plan your workouts. There's your time to get your shit together and go work out instead of mindlessly scrolling or spending time staring at your phone.

So of all of the things that I could pull apart, that's the one. If you constantly say that you are too busy on the reg and too busy daily, I challenge you to look at that number and get real with yourself. Okay. And what else I want to challenge you to look at: don't you think that there's somebody else on this earth with less time making it happen than you? Right? I know for a fact, because there are 50,000 women that we've helped so far to date.

And I see the women inside of our communities that make shit happen. And they have the busiest schedules, right? One person comes to mind specifically for me who lost 100 pounds in nine months during COVID. She's a doctor and has two sets of twins under the age of four. Guys, she never gave me the excuse of I am too busy. She just tried to figure out what best worked for her and her time and her schedule and her family's schedule.

You guys can go to the WarriorBabe YouTube page and actually watch her interview. I interviewed her. It's Marie. In the middle of the winter, she put her TRX ropes on her kids' play set and was doing her workout outside. And there are also photos of her kids jumping up on her when she's doing push-ups and trying to get it done.

It's very inspiring. That woman is a perfect testament with her schedule and her life. She still got it done. And she probably has less time than you do, right? And then you're over here saying, I don't have enough time. But compared to her, you have time, right? Everybody has the same 24 hours in a day to make it happen. It's all about how you allocate those 24 hours and what you prioritize to get where you want to be.

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I challenge you to look at those few things before I dive into a couple of tactics that you can take away if you're planning on starting your fitness journey in the summer or in the busy months in general, okay? But I will remind you, there is no better time to start than right now. Because if you can do it in the busiest of busy seasons, then you're going to be able to do it in the slow seasons as well, okay? So let's dive into the four things that can help you navigate starting your fitness journey during the summer. And look, it's not going to be, oh, here are your macro numbers and here's your workout schedule to follow.

These are mental things that you have to work through to create longevity and to keep taking action when the slow months come, okay? Because the rest are all things that you know you need to do. You know you need to eat better. You know you need to move your body. You know you need to work out X amount of times a week. You know those things. So it's on you to take those actions. If you're starting out on your journey, you know that you have to figure out how to eat better and get rid of the things in your environment at home that are not supporting you, right?

You know that you have to choose better options in order to reach a goal. You know that if you want to build more muscle and you're just starting your fitness journey, you need to go hit up the weight rack and walk into the weight room. I'm going to talk in another podcast about how I can help you guys through the anxiety of walking into a weight room. But you know you need to do those things, right? If you are starting your fitness journey, eating better, working out and moving your body are things that you know you need to do. What I want to talk about right now, with these four things to help you navigate starting your fitness journey, is more mental than anything.

Because if you can get the mental on track, if you can understand why you're doing all these things, why you want to do them and what you're trying to achieve, then doing the other things that you know you need to do is going to be a hell of a lot easier. Okay, so number one, and I did an entire podcast on this, I think it was episode 40: you have to get clear on your why. What are the reasons why you want to accomplish these goals you have for yourself right now in the summertime?

If it's June or July right now, why are you starting your journey right now? And let me say this. If it's so superficial that you just want to lose weight, it's not going to hold you through to August, September, October. It's not going to hold you through to the slow months. It's not going to hold you through to the holidays. While it is a great goal, it's very superficial. So I challenge you to get a little bit deeper, right?

Why do you want to accomplish these things? Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to build muscle? Always get deeper. Get deeper until you hit a root level of, this is a serious thing that I can hold on to, that I can wake up every single day and be so excited about because I have this why. And it's going to carry me through the slow months, the holidays, all of the things. Because this is how you create a sustainable, realistic path for yourself.

Okay, your why is very unique to you. I'm going to give you some examples of what I mean by getting deep. It's your kids. It's having your kids look at you as a role model when they grow up. It's having your kids see all of the healthy habits that mom is creating for herself right now. It's speaking in a way that is supportive of your body, of who you are. And by taking action on what you want to do, you're following through with what you say you want.

And then your kids are going to be able to see that.

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It's your grandkids. It's them running around the backyard and you being able to participate in those activities with them. It's having a healthy body when you're 70 years old. Because all of this starts right now. The things that you do right now matter when you're 70 and 80 years old. And I've elaborated on that in past podcasts. So you see how there's a feeling there.

There's an emotion there. You dug deep to figure out why you want to start, why you want to be healthy, right? Because it always starts at the surface. It always starts like, I want to lose weight, or I am so not happy with the way my body looks right now, I'm about to be in a bikini in two weeks and I need to start losing weight. Cool. Great goal to have. But you're going to start doing it in ways that are not sustainable or realistic, or that may be detrimental to your why of health.

So it'll help you to get a little bit deeper, so that when you've established these reasons why and you understand why you get so excited to wake up every single day, then you will give energy to that burning desire and the vision of what you want to become. And then all of a sudden your mind will become loaded with these strong reasons to create

action towards what you want. This is how strength develops, you guys. When you have your deep-seated reason why, and it's not superficial like I just mentioned, it's actually like, dude, I want to do this for my kids. I want to do this for myself to prove that I can actually do this. I want to do it for my grandkids. I want to do it for my relationship with my husband because he hears me talk about the way I look and the way I feel. And I want to embark on this journey to feel better in my skin,

for our relationship. Once you've developed that, your mind will become loaded with strong reasons, stronger reasons than just the superficial, I want to lose weight, okay, cool, I need to go work out today. No, it's going to be so much stronger, and those strong reasons are going to help you create action on a daily basis. And it's going to be so much easier for you to follow through on that action.

Because you have created a feeling and emotion around your why, right? And then all of a sudden, you repeat these things daily, and you have this vision of yourself that you're working towards. I've talked about this vision, I think in episode four: the person that you want to become. So episode four and episode 40 are your best friends right now, especially if you're starting your fitness journey and learning how to navigate it in the summer or the busy months. No matter where you're at, those two episodes are the most important

things that you could possibly listen to. If you're a WarriorBabe, or if you're thinking about becoming a WarriorBabe, these are the first things that we send our clients through, the mindset things. Because like I said at the beginning of the podcast, if you don't get your mindset down, all of the things that you know you need to do are not going to happen. Because you live in a state of mind where you're thinking all the negative things, and you hate the way you look, and da da da, right? So taking action on eating healthy is a lot harder to do until you get these things

set in stone for yourself. Why do you want to do it? And who are you trying to become? Because it's a hell of a lot different than the person that you are right now. Okay. So when you have these whys, you pull energy from that vision. You pull energy and ideas about how to navigate your day from how that person would navigate her day. You're looking out into the future at the person that you want to become, and she's already accomplished all the things that you want.

So how is that person accomplishing it? What is she doing on a regular basis? How is she planning her days? How is she combating resistance? How is she overcoming excuses? You look out at her, you see how she's doing things, and you pull ideas into your reality right now that you can act on today. These things are so important. If anybody was to ask me, how do I start my fitness journey right now, or in the busy months, summer, even if it's fucking January, I would be like, why do you want to do this?

A lot of people always say, I want to lose weight and I want to feel better. Awesome. Great. Superficial. But why do you want to do this? Why do you want to lose that weight? Why do you want to feel better? Let's dig a little bit deeper. Oh, okay. Well, my husband and I aren't as intimate as I would like us to be because I'm very self-conscious in my body. Bam. We just got a little bit deeper there. Right. Or, my mom had a really bad relationship with food when I was growing up, and I think I have pulled those things into my life now.

And I don't want my kids to grow up that way. Bam. We've gotten deeper. You see how when you just get real with yourself, it's so deep. Okay. I know I just elaborated big time on that first one, but again, you can go and listen to episode 40 and episode four. Those are your best friends right now, especially if you're starting your fitness journey and trying to navigate it.

Number two: when you have your why, you've got to set specific goals. And like I said a second ago, I am not going to encourage you to focus on a data point with

weight during the summer, because you're going to be traveling. You're going to be going to barbecues. You're going to be hanging out with your friends. And you may not be 100% on trying to navigate starting to eat right. Hell, it's going to be hard to navigate eating a healthy diet in the summertime. And even if you have your why, there are still old patterns, environments, all of these things creeping back up. And they're going to creep up a lot louder than they will in the slower months.

Now, I still encourage you to hold on to your why, but I'm not going to encourage you to focus on a data point. People want to lose weight. Okay, well, let's be realistic here. In the summertime, you're doing all of these things. You really want to focus on a data point of weight during the summertime? You're just setting yourself up for doomsday there, because you're going to be at it for four weeks, and maybe in those four weeks you were on point 50% of the time. And then you step on the scale and you're wondering why you're not seeing results, because you've attached yourself to this specific data point.

And then you're just defeated at that point. So I will encourage you to focus on a performance goal instead. What we're doing with our VIP community right now in the month of June is a push-up and plank challenge. They start off at the beginning of June with X amount of push-ups and planks, and it gradually gets harder as they get through the rest of the month. So by the end of the month, they're going to see how much stronger they got with planks

and push-ups, because they consistently did the things that we told them to do on a daily basis throughout the month. Bam. Think about the difference between those two things right there. With the weight thing, you're defeated, because let's be realistic, people will be like, oh, I'm following it, but you're really not. And that's what a coach is great for, because we're going to call you out on that. And then you're defeated because you step on the scale, but you haven't been consistent, and you're wondering why you're not seeing results.

I just rolled my eyes, for those of you that can't see me on video right now. Okay. But then with the other one, where we're focusing on performance goals and getting stronger, you're going to feel elated, because you're going to see an actual physical difference in getting stronger. So while I think goals of weight loss, fat loss and all that jazz are great, during the summer months, just be realistic with yourself. Be honest with yourself. But for navigating starting this journey, you have to set specific goals.

And I will encourage you to set performance goals, like the push-ups, the planks, the pull-ups. Focus on getting stronger with your pull-ups, focus on increasing weight in the gym, getting stronger in your sets, your reps, tempo, all this stuff. I've talked about progressive overload on previous podcasts. Focus on doing that instead of focusing on a data point. Especially in the summertime and especially in busy months. I have seen this with so many of my clients, especially one client right now. She is doing a lot of

traveling, and it would have been silly for me as a coach to be like, let's go into a cut. Let's focus on cutting. Let's focus on getting to your leanest state. That would not be doing her any service. So it's very unique how we're going about her schedule right now. It's actually pretty similar to the way that I am treating my maintenance. During the week, she's in a deficit, but on the weekend and during her travel time, she kind of just goes with the flow, makes sure she's eating enough and focuses on

being present with her family and her friends during her travel time. Right. And in the gym, we focus on what she can do to be stronger. Because this is the thing: it's all seasonal. You can't be in a cut all four seasons of the year. You can be in a cut maybe for three months during one quarter out of four, or maybe two quarters, but then there are going to be two other quarters that you have to think

about that may be busier than the rest. And maybe it's summer, and you just have to be realistic that you're not going to be losing weight, losing fat or getting to your leanest state here, but you can focus on getting stronger. Okay, guys. So be realistic with yourself, set these goals and be honest with yourself. If the next couple of months are so busy for you and you have so much travel, why the hell would you focus on going into a damn cut?

Right. Why would you focus on fat loss? Just be realistic with yourself. You should have done that in January. You should have done that in December. You should have done that in February or March. Okay. But here we are now. So just be realistic with yourself.

Number three is creating a schedule. Because that's going to be your best friend when you are so busy and you have busy months and you have the summer and you have travel. It's like, okay, when I look at my calendar, can I identify the best

times I can get my workout in? Where can I identify the best time for me to meal prep for my week? Easy as that. Create a schedule.

And then number four is following through on all of the things that I just said. You can't establish your why and your goal and then not take any action on it. You can't establish your goal and create a schedule and not take any action on it, and then expect results. You can't do those three things that I just mentioned without the fourth,

following through and taking action. Okay. And then I'm going to add in a bonus one right now. Get a coach. Get a freaking coach during this time. When you are in the busiest time of your year, this is the best time for you to have support, when you need it the most. And guess who's going to do that? Guess who's going to handle the creation of your workouts, your macros, where you're at, and hold you

accountable to it, making sure you follow through? Who's going to help you understand that this is a busy time and we can't focus on the cut, because it's just stupid, it's not realistic, we should have done that before? Who better to have side by side with you, holding you accountable and supporting you through this busy time, than a coach? I mean, it's just so freaking obvious. Okay. So that's the bonus one. Get a coach if you don't have one. Check out WarriorBabe. Information about our program is in the description

below. Okay. So those are the four things plus the bonus: figure out your why, set realistic, specific goals for yourself, create a schedule, follow through, and find a coach. Those are the ways that I would recommend you navigate starting a fitness journey in the summer or in the busy months of the year. And let me remind you, as we close out this podcast today, the busier you are, the better

the time it is to start. Because life is always going to have busy seasons. And if you can't figure out how to do it during the busy seasons, then it's not going to be realistic for you and you will not be able to create a sustainable lifestyle for yourself. On that note, peace out, guys.

Real quick, it would mean the absolute world to me if you could take two minutes of your time to click out of this podcast, find the rate and review section, rate it, and write a one to two sentence review on how you're enjoying this podcast. I would appreciate that so much. It is the only way this show grows. I don't run any ads to this or do anything special to make it grow. You guys are literally what makes this show grow. So I'd appreciate it if you could do that really quick. Thanks so much for doing it.