Episode Transcript

The Nourished Mama - Ep 19

Transcript 

Welcome to the Nourished Mama podcast. I am your host, Anna Robinson, certified nutritionist and wellness coach, plus fellow mama. This podcast is here to show you that you can live your healthiest, happiest, most vibrant life as a mama. Each week, I will be sharing different nutrition Lifestyle and mindset hacks that are going to support you in your health journey.

You can expect realistic and sustainable advice, plus strategies that can easily fit into your busy life as a mama. Because without a nourished mama, there can't be a nourished home. So if you are committed to creating a life filled with vibrance for you and for the ones you love most, then you are in the right place.

So let's get into today's life changing episode. 

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Nourished Mama Show. I'm so glad you were here because I have such a great quick win, powerful episode lined up for you. Something I get asked all the time is how do you stay so motivated and consistent with your health routine? And in a way, this is something I'm quite strategic about, which is why I wanted to do an episode on it.

So let's start with motivation. Motivation can come easy and fast, but consistency does take time to build up. The key with motivation though, is that you cannot rely on it. If I relied on motivation to eat healthy every day and ex exercise, then I would fall off the bandwagon every few days, which is what happens to a lot of people when they start a health routine.

Motivation only comes when you take action. First, I'm gonna repeat that motivation only comes when you take action first. This is something that completely changed my perspective on healthy habits. We often think we need to feel motivated before we can start, but that's actually backwards. The secret is that action creates motivation.

And not the other way around. Think about it. Have you ever dreaded going for a walk or doing a workout class? But once you get going, you actually enjoyed it and feel great afterwards. That's because the simple act of starting I. Triggers something in our brains. The endorphins kick in. We feel a sense of accomplishment, and suddenly we are thinking, this isn't so bad after all.

I call it the five minute rule. Just commit to five minutes of whatever habit you're trying to build. Usually the hardest part is just beginning. Once you've started, momentum takes over, and even on days when it. Doesn't, and those five minutes stay just five minutes, you've still taken action. And this action builds your identity as someone who shows up for themselves.

Every time you take action, despite not feeling motivated, you're essentially telling yourself, I'm the kind of person who does this, even when I don't feel like it. And that's incredibly powerful. Over time, this creates a positive feedback loop. Action leads to small wins. Small wins lead to increased confidence.

Increased confidence leads to more motivation and more motivation leads to more action. I can almost guarantee you that no one wakes up every single day feeling inspired to exercise, make healthy meals and meditate. Most days I do, but I definitely have my fair share of days when everything feels too hard and I just don't bloody feel like it, but I still show up for myself in any way.

In shape and form that I can. That's the key difference between people who are consistent with their health routines and those who aren't take action. When you really don't feel like it is where the magic lies. It's how you create long lasting, healthy lifestyle habits that become a consistent part of your routine.

So what do I do when motivation is low? I have a few strategies that have been absolute game changer for me, and I think they will work for you too. Firstly, I lower the bar. I. On days when I'm just not feeling it. I don't aim for a perfect 60 minute workout, for example. Instead, I tell myself, just put on your workout clothes and move for 10 minutes.

That's it. Just 10 minutes. What tends to usually happen is once I start and I get going, those 10 minutes turn from 30 to 40 minutes. But even if they don't, I still did something. And that's what consistency is all about. I chose to show up for myself in any way, shape, or form that I could. The same goes for healthy eating.

Maybe I don't have the energy to make that elaborate nourish bowl with all the toppings, but I can throw together a simple protein and some veggies. It doesn't have to be Instagram worthy to be nourishing. The second strategy I use is what I call habit stacking. I connect my healthy habits to things I already do automatically, and this is a game changer for mamas.

For example, after I brush my teeth in the morning, I automatically drink a big glass of water with lemon. It's now so automatic that I just don't think about it anymore. Or if the kids are training after school, I do my workout in the park or jog around the neighborhood We are in no decision making required.

And speaking of decision making. That's another big drain on motivation. Decision fatigue is real, especially with mums. When we have to make too many choices throughout the day, our willpower gets depleted. So I try to eliminate as many decisions as possible by planning ahead. Every Sunday I spend about 30 minutes planning my workouts and some of our meals for the week.

Both Michael and I have busy schedules along with the kids, so I look at each day, and if I know the kids have afterschool activities that day, then I need to fit my workout in during the day or wake up earlier and get it done. I write all my workouts down in my planner and then I don't have to think about what to do each day.

The decision is already made because if I relied on finding a spare 30 minutes each day, that would never happen Before you know it, it's 5:00 PM and everyone is asking you what's for dinner, and your so-called workout is not happening at this point. I also wanna quickly touch on asking for help here before we move on, and this is gonna be some tough love, but I feel like I've gotta do it.

Some tough love means that you need to find this time for you. You have to find it for yourself. Tell your partner when you plan on doing your workouts and make sure he's around to help with the kids if they are at home, or ask other family and friends to help out. I often speak to moms who get frustrated that their partner doesn't make time for their self-care, but nine times outta 10, they haven't even asked for help.

You are your biggest advocate. You need to find this time and make these decisions for yourself and not rely on encouragement from others, which is what I see a lot of other people do. Now let's move on and talk about something that's also been a total game changer for me. And I teach all my clients to do this as well, and that is finding your why.

And I don't mean some surface level reason, I wanna lose 10 kilos, or I wanna look good in a swimsuit. Those motivations fade very quickly. Your why needs to be deeper. For me, it's about being energetic and present for my kids. It's about modeling healthy habits, so they grow up with a positive relationship with food and their bodies.

It's about feeling strong in my own skin and taking care of the only body that I'll ever have. When I connect to these deeper motivations, it's much easier to show up even when I don't feel like it, because it's not about me anymore. It's about the ripple effect that my actions have on my entire family and my entire life.

It can be really powerful to sit down and really think about why you want a healthy life. Do you wanna have more energy for your kids? Do you wanna be more patient, happy and positive for your family? Do you wanna stop worrying about your health every day and live in the present moments? Do you wanna set a better example for your kids because everything they see you do is what will become their normal in their future.

Do you wanna be around to see your grandkids? Is longevity important to you? These are the kinds of whys that will push you when resistance arises, so I highly recommend sitting down and writing down a few of your deep, strong whys I. Another strategy that's been super helpful for me is finding accountability.

This doesn't have to be complicated. It could be a friend you text before and after your workouts, a walking buddy who expects you to show up, or even an online community where you check in daily. I have a small group of mama friends and we have a group chat where we share our wins and struggles that day.

Knowing they're checking in on me helps. Me stay on track and celebrating their wins motivates me too. Plus, there's something so powerful about saying, I'm going to do this out loud to someone else. Now, I also wanna address. One of the biggest elephants in the room, and that is perfectionism. Oh boy, is this something that I struggled with for years?

I used to think that if I couldn't do something perfectly, there was no point in doing it at all. If I missed a workout, I'd throw in the towel for the whole week. If I ate a cookie, I'd think, I've already ruined my diet. I might as well eat the whole box. Sound familiar. This all or nothing thinking is the enemy of consistency.

I've learned to embrace what I call the good enough approach. Some movement is better than no movement. Some veggies are better than no veggies. Some self-care is better than no self-care. Remember, consistency isn't about being perfect. It's about showing up imperfectly over and over again. And let's talk about the importance of also making it enjoyable.

If you hate running, don't run. Find a form of movement that brings you joy, whether that's dancing in your living room, yoga, swimming, or hiking. And the same goes for healthy eating. Find nutritious foods that you actually enjoy and like to eat. For example, I used to force myself to eat kale because it was.

Healthy, but I dreaded it every time to be honest. Now I focus on other leafy greens I enjoy like spinach and rocket and all those other beautiful vegetables that we can get our hands on. Life's too short to eat food that you hate. Another mindset shift that's been helpful is focusing on how things make me feel

Not just how they make me look when I exercise, I notice how my mood improves, how I sleep better, how I have more patience with my kids when I eat well. I notice how my energy stays stable, how my skin clears up, and how my digestion improves. These immediate benefits are often more motivating than long-term goals like weight loss or muscle gain.

So pay attention to how your healthy habits make you feel in that moment, not just what they might do for you down the road. Now when I wanna share something really important, you need to build in rest and flexibility and know when it's time for this. Consistency doesn't always mean doing the same thing, the same intensity every single day because that's a recipe for burnout.

I have days where I go hard at the gym and with my workouts and days where I do gentle yoga and days where my movement is just playing with my kids at the park. I have days where I eat a lot of veggies and lean proteins and days where I enjoy ice cream with my family without guilt. This flexibility is what makes my routine sustainable in the long run.

It's not about being rigid, it's about finding the right balance for you. So to wrap up here, my key takeaways for staying motivated and consistent with your health routine are lower the bar on tough days, something is always better than nothing. Plan ahead to eliminate decision fatigue. Connect to your deeper why.

Find accountability in whatever form works for you. Ditch perfectionism and embrace good enough. Make it enjoyable. Life is too short not to. And focus on how healthy habits make you feel, not just how they make you look. Also, the last one. Build in rest and flexibility to avoid burnout. And remember, mama, you are worth the investment and time and energy Your health matters, not just for you, but everyone else who depends on you too.

Thanks so much for listening to today's episode of The Nourished Mama Show. If you found this helpful, please share it with a friend who might need to hear it too. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Until next time, take care of yourself so you can take care of everyone else too.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope this conversation has inspired you to live your healthiest, happiest life. Don't forget to subscribe and tune in next week. Bye for now.