The YLF Live Stream Podcast

What does it actually mean to build a forever active lifestyle?

In this episode, I take a step back and talk through what we are really trying to build through Your Level Fitness, and why I think the approach has to go deeper than workouts, eating plans, habits, or weight loss.

A lot of the fitness industry tells you to be consistent.

Make it a lifestyle.

Stick with the plan.

Follow the habits.

But I think there is an important question underneath all of that.

How do you actually build something you trust yourself to keep navigating as your life changes?

That is where I think preferences, self trust, identity, goal setting, and self appreciation all come together.

I talk about why I want you to build eating and exercise around what you actually enjoy, why minimum daily actions and weekly goals should include margin instead of requiring perfection, and why three workouts a week for twenty years is much more meaningful than seven workouts a week for one impressive stretch.

I also get into why I do not want you barely crossing the finish line every week. I want you setting expectations that give you room to deal with the unpredictable parts of life while still seeing yourself as someone who follows through.

We also talk about the mental side of all of this.

Your actions matter.

Your habits matter.

Your results matter.

But underneath those things is the way you see yourself.

Do you trust yourself?

Do you believe you are capable of figuring things out?

Can you adjust when life changes?

Can you appreciate who and what you see in the mirror while continuing to pursue goals?

Can you stop treating every obstacle as evidence that you are failing?

That is the foundation I want to help you build.

I also talk about why so much marketing, both inside and outside fitness, is designed to convince you that something is missing. You need the next product. The next plan. The next result. The next version of yourself.

I want to reinforce the opposite message.

You already have the ability to start figuring this out.

The role of the streams, journal prompts, coaching, and everything else we use is not to make you dependent on another system. It is to help you build enough awareness, confidence, context, and self trust that your own voice eventually becomes the one reminding you that you can handle what comes next.

This is not about creating a perfect life.

It is about becoming more equipped to navigate the life you actually have.

What happens when life does not go according to plan?

That is where I think we start to see the difference between following rules and actually trusting ourselves.

In this episode of the YLF Live Stream Podcast, I talk about why self trust is not about creating the perfect plan or trying to control every possible variable. It is about believing that when something changes, you can adjust, make decisions, and figure out what comes next.

Structure still matters.

Routines matter.

Minimum daily actions matter.

Planning matters.

Those things give us opportunities to practice following through and build momentum when life is relatively predictable. But eventually, something changes. Sometimes it is a problem. Sometimes it is something positive, like an unexpected opportunity to spend time with someone you care about.

The question becomes, can you adjust without feeling like the entire day has fallen apart?

I also talk about the relationship between control and self trust. Sometimes the more desperately we try to plan for every possible outcome, the more we may be showing ourselves that we do not trust our ability to handle something unexpected.

Self trust is not knowing exactly what is going to happen. It is trusting yourself to respond when you do not know.

We also get into choosing the identity first. You can decide that you are someone who trusts yourself to figure things out, then start looking for the moments when your actions reinforce that decision.

Those moments can be small inconveniences or major seasons of life.

Either way, every time you adapt, adjust, and keep moving, you give yourself another example to come back to.

You still prepare.

You still plan.

You still build structure.

But the structure supports you. It does not have to become an attempt to control everything around you.

In this episode of the YLF Live Stream Podcast, I talk about one of the most useful skills we can practice when things feel hard, overwhelming, or emotionally charged.

Something happens.

You feel something.

You start telling yourself a story about what it means.

And then you react.

But there can be a little bit of space in between those things.

That space is where you can pause, gather your thoughts, cool yourself down, and get curious about what is actually going on before automatically responding.

I talk about how this can show up with food noise, body image, weight loss, and everyday decisions. Sometimes the first thought or feeling is only the surface. There may be something deeper underneath it.

I also talk about why the goal is not to eliminate emotion.

You are allowed to feel anxious, frustrated, uncomfortable, sad, or overwhelmed. Feeling an emotion does not make you weak, and it does not automatically mean you have to do something about it immediately.

Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is observe what you are feeling, sit with it for a while, and decide later what you want to do next.

Fitness and weight loss are really a series of decisions, one after another. You are never going to make every decision perfectly. The goal is to keep learning how to move from one decision to the next with more awareness, curiosity, kindness, and compassion toward yourself.

You do not need to judge every thought or feeling that comes up.

Sometimes you just need to notice it, understand it a little better, and keep moving forward.

When did your body become something you started constantly evaluating?

For a lot of us, that process starts much earlier than we realize.

Let's talk about how body image messages can start in childhood and keep getting reinforced through family, media, the internet, social media, comments from other people, and the expectations we absorb over time.

The goal is not to pretend those messages never happened.

The goal is to consciously create another way to see yourself.

I talk about why appreciating who and what you see in the mirror does not mean giving up your external goals. You can still want to lose weight, change your appearance, improve your fitness, or work toward something physical while also learning not to make those goals responsible for your worth or value.

I also get into why the body can become such an easy emotional punching bag. Sometimes when life feels difficult, it is incredibly easy to redirect frustration, disappointment, or insecurity toward your body because it is right there and easy to critique.

The work is becoming aware of that pattern and learning how to redirect it.

You are still going to have critical thoughts.

You are still going to have moments where your emotions want to pile on.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is getting better at noticing what is happening, stepping outside of it when you can, and returning to a more grounded way of seeing yourself.

And throughout all of this, I want you to remember something important.

You can keep pursuing the goals that matter to you.

But as a person, you are already there.

Are you trying to change your body, or are you hoping that changing your body will fix something deeper?

For most people, the answer is probably a little bit of both.

There is nothing wrong with having appearance based goals. You can want to lose weight, build muscle, change your body composition, or simply like what you see in the mirror more.

The important part is understanding what is underneath those goals.

In this episode of the YLF Live Stream Podcast, I talk about why changing your body and appreciating your body do not have to compete with each other. You can work on both at the same time.

The bigger question is whether you are expecting the physical change to make you feel worthy, confident, comfortable, or finally okay with who you are.

That is work you can start doing now.

I also talk about using the 60 second mirror exercise to intentionally build yourself up, celebrating small wins throughout the day, and creating enough repetition around appreciation that it gradually becomes more natural.

The scale moving down can be a win.

Getting your water in can be a win.

Following through with activity can be a win.

Even simply noticing that you handled something better than you would have before can be a win.

The more you practice recognizing those moments, the easier it becomes to build an active life around something other than constant criticism.

And if you have already reached a major physical goal but still do not feel the way you expected, that does not necessarily mean you need a bigger goal.

It may mean the deeper work needs more of your attention.

You can continue pursuing the physical goals that matter to you while also intentionally deciding how you want to see and speak to yourself.

That work is ongoing.

You will not be perfect at it.

You will have setbacks, old thoughts, and moments that trip you up.

But you can keep practicing, keep reinforcing the wins, and keep building the relationship you want to have with yourself from the inside/out.

Which version of yourself do you trust?

The person you used to be?

The person other people expect you to be?

The person you think you should become?

Or the version of yourself that feels most connected to who you actually are?

In this YLF live stream, I talk about identity as something that evolves rather than something we completely replace.

I do not really believe in the idea of an old you and a new you.

Every version of you is still part of the story.

The twelve-year-old version.

The twenty-one-year-old version.

The person you were five years ago.

The person sitting here today.

All of those experiences, thoughts, insecurities, beliefs, and accomplishments come along for the ride.

But you are the one driving now.

We talk about why your future identity can begin before the results ever show up. You can decide that you are someone who moves in a certain direction before you have figured out every step, solved every obstacle, or even taken the first action.

You choose the direction.

Then you reinforce it.

That reinforcement matters because you have already spent your entire life reinforcing beliefs about yourself, whether you consciously realized it or not.

Now you can start doing that intentionally.

I also talk about the role self appreciation plays in separating who you actually are from all of the outside expectations pulling at you.

The more connected you become to yourself, the easier it can become to recognize what genuinely fits and what is simply something you were taught you were supposed to want.

That does not mean the old thoughts disappear.

They may come back after months or even years.

You may find yourself falling into old patterns.

You may question whether the identity you chose is really yours.

That is where observation matters.

Instead of immediately criticizing yourself, step back and notice what is happening.

If you know the direction still matters to you, that may be the moment to remind yourself of the promise you made and take another action in that direction.

If the direction no longer fits, you are allowed to acknowledge that too.

Identity is not something you need to grip tightly and perform perfectly.

Eventually, the goal is to become connected enough to yourself that you can let situations come to you, observe them, make the choice that fits, and continue moving forward.

You do not have to control every possible outcome.

You do not have to constantly fight yourself.

You can operate from a calmer headspace, move at a deliberate pace, and trust yourself to figure things out as they come.

The version of yourself worth believing in is not some perfect future person.

It is the version that becomes more and more aligned with who you genuinely are.

You can have people around you every day and still feel lonely.

You can have friends, family, coworkers, followers, messages and conversations happening around you and still feel like nobody really knows you.

In this episode of The Your Level Fitness Podcast, I talk about the difference between being alone and feeling lonely, and why loneliness can sometimes be connected to how much of ourselves we feel comfortable allowing other people to see.

For some of us, that starts early.

Maybe you tried being yourself and it was not received well. Maybe you opened up and got hurt. Maybe you learned that staying quiet, keeping certain things to yourself or showing people only certain layers of who you are felt safer.

Over time, that can leave you with relationships where people are physically close to you without actually having access to much of who you really are.

That does not mean everybody deserves full access to you.

I think deeper access should be earned.

You can let people in little by little. Pay attention to what they do with what you share. Give relationships time to develop. Get clearer about the qualities you want in the people you allow close to you.

You can stay open without giving everyone full access to you.

I also talk about loneliness during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month because chronic loneliness can become incredibly heavy. Telling someone to simply check on their people is not always enough. We need relationships where people feel like they matter, where they can be themselves and where they feel safe enough to talk about what they are actually experiencing.

If you have been hurt before, I hope you do not give up on connection.

There are people you can be yourself around.

Give yourself time to find them, let them earn deeper access to you and allow yourself to remain open to the possibility of meaningful connection.

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Support

If you are in the United States and are experiencing suicidal thoughts, emotional distress or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

If you are in immediate danger or believe you may act on thoughts of harming yourself, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with the Crisis Text Line in the United States.

If you are outside the United States, contact your local emergency services or crisis support service for immediate help.

It is very easy to get caught in the mental tug of war of what you should be doing, what you should not be doing, and where you think you should be by now.

In this episode, I talk about a much simpler question.

What are you willing and able to do today?

That question forces you to look honestly at where you are without immediately turning it into judgment, guilt, or shame.

Maybe you have not been willing to take a particular step yet. That does not make you a failure. It simply gives you information about where you have been up to this point.

And that point can change immediately.

You can decide to take the first step, take the next step, rest, push forward, start again, stop doing something, or move in a completely different direction.

We also talk about the gap between what we think we should be doing and what we are realistically willing and able to do, why even an embarrassingly small step can still matter, and how focusing on willingness can eventually expand what you are capable of doing.

You do not need to blame yourself for everything that has happened.

You do not need to psych yourself out.

You need to trust yourself, recognize what is actually within your control, and decide what you are willing and able to do next.

Being at ease does not mean giving up control. In a lot of ways, it can actually help you become more capable of handling what life throws at you.

In this episode, I talk about the difference between forcing control and trusting yourself. When we try to control every outcome, every routine, every expectation, and every possible variable, it is often because we do not actually feel very secure underneath all of that planning.

Being at ease means something different. It means having a plan, doing your part, and following through on what matters without gripping everything so tightly that the unknown becomes overwhelming.

We also talk about letting other people help, delegating, being willing to trust again after being disappointed, and understanding that preparation is useful until it turns into constant mental rehearsal.

The goal is not to become passive or let life happen without you.

The goal is to trust yourself enough to adjust when life changes.

That starts with a decision to loosen your grip, practice letting go in small ways, and be patient with yourself when old habits come back.

Over time, that can reduce the mental tug of war and help you show up with more ease in your work, your relationships, and your day to day life.

We’re officially two thirds of the way through the year, and this is usually the time when the messages about finishing strong, locking in, and pushing harder start getting louder.

I want to offer you something different.

Before you think about everything you still want to accomplish, take a moment to appreciate everything you’ve already made it through.

For some of you, this has been an incredibly heavy year. You’ve navigated challenges with work, relationships, family, fitness, weight loss, grief, mental health, or circumstances you never expected to deal with. Some storms may finally be calming down. Others may still be getting heavier.

Either way, you’re still here.

In this episode, I talk about why surviving a difficult season deserves to be acknowledged, why there will always be more things to accomplish, and why constantly measuring yourself against everything you haven’t done can prevent you from recognizing how far you’ve already come.

We also talk about both ends of the spectrum. Maybe you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water. Or maybe you’re the person who checks every box and immediately creates five more.

Both can be signs that it’s time to slow down and reconnect with yourself.

There is still plenty of time to pursue goals and make progress this year. We’re going to do that.

But before you thrive, give yourself permission to recognize what it took to survive.

You don’t need to finish the year proving something to yourself.

Finish it connected to yourself, with kindness, compassion, and an appreciation for everything you’ve already carried.