Working Out but Not Seeing Results? Here's Why

Nikkiey: Keep the promises that you make to yourself. When you break the promises that you make to yourself repeatedly, over and over and over again, you start to lose trust in yourself. And that affects everything.

Yo, yo, yo, you guys, what's going on? Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. 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, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode number 269. Today I've got something important that I want to talk to you guys about, because I know that I've been in this position before, so I'm just going to flat out say this. It's something that I also see very often in people I've worked with or people I have conversations with. And that is: you show up sometimes. You track your food some days. You hit your workouts most weeks. But you're still spinning as to why you're not seeing the results that you want to see within your body composition. And the changes you want to see are the weight loss, or more muscle, or being more toned.

When I think about that, the one thing that used to come to my mind as a question is, well, why aren't my workouts working? And I'm sure that's a similar question for you guys too. Like, I go to the gym four to five days a week. I track my food some days. I'm hitting my workouts four to five days most weeks. I'm showing up sometimes. Why am I not getting the results? Why aren't my workouts working?

But I want to be really brutally honest with you, my friends. Let's talk about the answer to that question that no one wants to admit, because it's hard to admit. I'm going to say it first and foremost because I've been there, done that, felt that. One, it's not your training program. It's not that your macros are broken, or that maybe the percentages you're following are wrong. It's not that your metabolism is broken. It's not your age.

What do you guys think it is? I'm just going to give you like 10 seconds. What do you guys think it is?

It is that you are inconsistent. Inconsistency has a price. And that price is one that keeps your body stuck. It's one that keeps your mindset spinning on that hamster wheel of why aren't things working. And at the same time as those two things are happening, your confidence is literally stuck on pause. And the belief that you have that you can actually do this is pretty much non-existent.

So today, I don't want to shame you guys. I don't want you to feel like you have some type of shame around this. I want to call this out for what it is, from a place of truth, from a place of honesty and power, and you guys feeling empowered getting off this episode and being like, okay, Nikkiey, I hear you. I understand what you're saying. This is definitely the reality of the situation. Because if you're tired of spinning your wheels and you're not seeing the change that you want to see, then we've got to face this head on, for exactly the truth and honesty of what it is, staring you back in the face.

Let's be honest, if you guys will have it. How often are you actually showing up with intention? How many weeks have you gone off track and told yourself, okay, I'm just going to get serious again on Monday? But Monday comes, and you hit the gym Monday. You track your food Tuesday. Wednesday is like, oh my God, life happens, and I just can't get my workout in. And then Thursday happens, and it's that same repeat: oh my God, I'm just going to get back at it tomorrow. And then Friday and Saturday just go down the gutter. And then Sunday you're like, dang, I just didn't show up with intention this week.

Maybe your workouts are happening, but they're very sporadic. You're hitting them for a week, and then you're ghosting the gym for the next. Or you're hitting your workouts for five days, which is the plan, but then the next week you only hit three. Or your food is clean during the week. You're eating healthy, quote unquote. Maybe you're not tracking yet, but you're eating healthy and you're making choices and you're saying no to things. But it turns into chaos over the weekend.

There was this Instagram post I put up probably two years ago, or two and a half years ago now. I got reamed out for it, but it's because people can't handle the truth. It was: you track your macros, or you track your nutrition, or you follow the plan Monday through Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday you fall off track. If you do five divided by seven, I think that's like 71%. I went to nursing school, y'all. 71% was failing. We had to have a 76, 77 or above to be passing.

So I put on this post that if you're doing this with your nutrition five days out of seven days of the week, that's a 71% effort. That's failing. And people were like, oh my gosh, you're way too harsh. Oh my gosh, that's so rude. Or whatever it was, I don't even remember. People were like, it's harsh. They couldn't take the honesty. They couldn't take the truth of it. That was probably most likely how they were showing up. The truth was right in their face, and they ran from it.

I'm just saying that to say, if your food is clean during the week and then it turns into chaos on the weekend, that's what I mean by inconsistency, you guys. And listen, it's sneaky. Because from the outside, it feels like you're doing enough. It's like, these five days, man, I just put in the work. I'm going to let it coast on the weekend. Or, I showed up five days last week, but this week I'm really busy and I can only show up three. But you're doing your best.

But your best can't just be a feeling. It has to be measured in action too. That's the reality of the consequences that come with inaction. You can't build muscle, you can't drop body fat, you can't feel stronger if your body can't rely on your habits on a daily basis. Your body responds to consistency. Period. End of story.

If you are consistently getting in your workouts five days a week. If you are consistently tracking your macros, or at least attempting to eat better than you were two, three weeks ago. If you are consistently getting enough sleep. If you are consistently recovering. If you are consistently hydrating yourself. Period. End of story. Your body is going to rely on those habits, and it's going to create change. But if you are inconsistent, you can't build muscle that way. You can't drop body fat that way. You can't. Or maybe you can, but it's going to take way longer than you want it to.

So I want to talk really quick about the price of what inconsistency looks like, because here's what it's really costing you.

Number one, you're getting stalled results. You're putting in effort, but not enough to spark real adaptation in your body. Your body needs repeated, consistent signals to grow, to change, to get leaner, to build, to adapt. To have stress on the body, to recover, and then to build that muscle. Same thing with the fuel that you give your body on a daily basis to help that recovery process. Same thing with the sleep, the regular, consistent sleep on a daily basis to help with the recovery process. Random, scattered workouts won't do that. Random days of eating, three good days of eating followed by four days of winging it, won't do it either. So you're stalling your results. And I said that 60 seconds ago. You may be able to do all this and act this way and show up this way, but I guarantee you, your results are going to take way longer to get.

And that's going to lead into the second thing that's costing you, which is mental exhaustion. When you're in and out of your plan all the time, you're constantly restarting. And you burn energy trying to get back on track over and over and over and over again. And that's going to get old so freaking fast.

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Then that's going to lead you to the third thing, which is doubt and frustration. You start questioning everything. You start questioning your macros. You start questioning your coach. You start questioning your workouts. You start questioning even your body. You think something is literally broken, when really it's just a lack of consistency.

And then stack all these on top of each other, and it's going to give you a massive loss of confidence. Keeping the promises you make to yourself is one of my mottos. I say it all the time. You can see it on my Instagram stories if you follow me. When I'm posting myself in the gym, I am sharing about keeping the promises that I make to myself. And I'm saying it to you guys: keep the promises that you make to yourself. When you break the promises that you make to yourself repeatedly, over and over and over again, you start to lose trust in yourself. And that affects everything. From how you see yourself in the mirror, to how you show up in your relationships, to the way that you show up at work, the way that you show up with your partner and your kids. Dude, that affects everything. It is literally the ripple effect.

So stack all these things on top of each other. One, stalling the results. Two, the mental exhaustion that comes with starting and stopping a plan over and over and over again. That leads to doubt and frustration, because you start questioning everything. You're wondering if something is broken. And then that ripples into the confidence that you have in yourself everywhere in your life.

I don't want that for you. You don't deserve to live in that kind of loop. Holy cow. I've been there, done that, felt it, and it is not a fun loop to be in. You're capable of so much more. But it starts with you guys. First of all, having the awareness of this. Accepting that this is the truth for you in the situation that you may be in, if you are inconsistent. Not getting mad at me and thinking that I'm hurting your feelings or shaming you here. The truth is what it is. So if we can accept it and you bring awareness to it, there's an open mind to change and to break this pattern.

We're going to talk about that in a second, because I want you guys to know how to even start. Where do I even start? How do I even get back on course? What's my first move? Do I do five things? Do I do one thing? But first, I want to break down why inconsistency even creeps in.

First and foremost, you probably have an all-or-nothing mindset. You're trying to be perfect on this new plan. So you go to the gym on Monday. You go to the gym on Tuesday. Wednesday, life happens. You miss a workout, and you think, dang, this whole week is ruined. I need to start over on Monday. And that same pattern repeats. That's why inconsistency is creeping in. Same thing with your nutrition. Maybe you're really good in the morning, you're really good in the afternoon at lunchtime, and then come four or five o'clock, you're starving and you cave, and then the rest of your day is ruined. You're trying to be perfect here.

Or you're overwhelmed. Maybe you just signed up for a new program, and you've got so many commitments. You've got responsibilities. You've got family. The kids are now out of school for summertime, and you have to take them to camp, or now they're running around the house and you've got to keep the house clean. Dude, I get it. But then training gets dropped because you're overwhelmed.

Or you're not making your goals visible. It's out of sight, out of mind. You don't have something reminding you on a daily basis, maybe like a sticky note on your computer with whatever the goal is. I want to lose five pounds. I want to feel sexy in my body. Whatever the goal is, it's out of sight, out of mind. It's there, but it's not really at the forefront of your mind on a daily basis.

Another one that you guys have heard me totally pour into is that you're relying on motivation on a daily basis instead of building that discipline muscle. That will get you every single time. If you are relying on motivation, inconsistency is going to creep in. No doubt. Period. End of story. If you are consistently relying on motivation, game over. You've got to start flexing that discipline muscle. You've got to really start making it super strong and build it up.

And at the same time, probably the pillar of all of this is that you haven't built the structure to make consistency feel natural. You're probably someone that has done a program, you were perfect at it, you didn't allow a mistake to happen, but afterwards, since the program was over, you fell off course. You went back to your old habits, where you were before. Or you are somebody that does go five days, then four days, then three days, and back to five, then three, then, oh, I can only make it one day this week. You haven't built the structure, the foundation, to make consistency feel natural. And it's not that you're lazy, because I don't want you to feel that way. It's not that you're weak. You just haven't set your life up to support the consistency that you need.

So in order to break this habit, in order to break these patterns, and in order to build the consistency habit, you need to, one, simplify your plan. Don't try to do five things at once. If you're someone that's like, dang, Nikkiey, this is me, and I needed to hear this episode today, thank you. I love you guys. If you're like, what do I even do? How do I even get back on course? Don't try to do five things at once. Focus on just showing up. Just commit to getting your three strength training workouts in this week. Focus on just hitting your protein goal. That is your foundation. That is how you can start to build consistency. That is how you can start to build confidence. That is how you will have no mental exhaustion, because you're showing up for yourself right now. You're starting. You're not going to have any doubt, because you're keeping it consistent. Those are the things that you need to do. That's it. Just show up. Honestly, just do that, because that's going to help you get on a plan again. That's going to help you start showing up again.

You then need to schedule. Those three strength training workouts, make sure you schedule them like they're a non-negotiable for yourself, like an appointment. The workouts that you put on your calendar, or on your whiteboard in your house, or on the family calendar, that is your appointment with yourself, and yourself only. Think about the practices that you have on your calendar, or the camp schedule, or summer sports. You're not skipping your kids' practice. You're not skipping a work meeting. So stop skipping out on you, girl. Seriously. You show up for everything else in your life. This is the one thing where you need to show up for yourself. Because I guarantee, I promise you, all those other things are going to be so much easier to handle if you just show up for yourself and keep the promise to yourself.

And then, instead of tracking your results right out of the gate as you're getting back into it, just track your show-ups. Cross off the days that you actually hit your non-negotiable, getting to the gym and making it happen. That's going to build momentum. That's going to build self-trust.

And if you are somebody that's trying to get back into it right now, and you're trying to show back up for yourself, and you're trying to be consistent because you know that you've been inconsistent, the one thing that I'm going to tell you that you are going to experience, without a doubt, is resistance. There are going to be days where you do not feel like doing this. Period. End of story. I've said that like five times now in this episode. That's not a reason to stop. That's a reason to lean in. When life gets messy, dude, the woman who shows up, and shows up anyway, is the one who's going to transform.

That's your old you trying to be like, no, you don't have to do this, girl. That is your old you trying to keep the inconsistency running, because it's a space that you're used to. And it only wants to keep you comfortable. It only wants to keep you safe. So when you feel that resistance, girl, lean into it and go show up anyway. Because that right there is a small win that makes a big win overall in the months to come.

With all of that, the truth is staring you in the face. If you're in this position right now, just accept it. Don't push it away. Don't blame something else. Take responsibility. Don't be the victim, saying, oh, my workout plan is not working. My macros aren't working. My coach isn't the right coach for me. This program sucks. Dude, take accountability for yourself. Take responsibility for where you're at right now. That will move needles in so many ways, if you accept it and you bring awareness to it.

You hear me on this episode giving you guys just love. I don't want you to feel like you're stuck in this loop and you have to have no confidence, you have to have doubt and frustration, you have to be in this mental exhaustion. It's why you're not getting the results you want. You're stalling your results. I don't want you to live there. You don't deserve to live there. You're capable of so much more. So I say all this stuff with love. Okay?

I want you to be the person that follows through. Your future you is someone that does follow through. So just step into her right now. And you can do that with what we're talking about in this episode. And you don't have to be perfect. You're not going to be. You're going to have setbacks. You're going to be met with resistance. It's probably going to win some days. And that's okay. But regardless, if you continue to show up the next day, no matter what happened the day before, that's a small win that's going to compound into a big one as well. You're the one who shows up regardless. The one who builds strength. The one who gets the results that she wants to get, by taking action on everything in this episode.

Okay. So today, make a decision. Implement just showing up. Just simplify your plan. You don't have to do five things at once to get back on track. Just focus on showing up. Commit to three days. That's your non-negotiable. It's simple. It's doable. And then repeat that, day after day. That is seriously the hidden key that most people miss.

But if you're listening, whether you've listened to all 269 episodes of this podcast or you're just joining for the first time, you're going to learn by being here and hanging out with me on these episodes that you're not like most people. You're someone that makes it happen. You're someone that is capable of change. And it starts here, and it starts today, just by making the decision. Making a decision can be an absolute game changer for the way that you show up in the next minute, the next 10 minutes, the next hour, the next day, the next week.

All right, my friends. Thank you guys for hanging out with me today. If this episode spoke to you guys, please, please, please, as I've been asking on previous episodes, screenshot this, post a key takeaway that you had, and tag me in it. I would love to reshare it, celebrate you, DM you back and be like, yes, girl, you got this. So share it on your stories and tag me. Let's help more women stop spinning and just start showing up for real. All right, guys, I'll see you in the next one. Love you guys. Peace out.

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