Transcript: If I Started Over: The Mistakes I'd Skip This Time
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Ashley introduces the episode four days before her 365-day mark and shares her biggest regret: stopping movement when she got to college and never picking it back up.
A year later, this is what I'd do differently.
What's up, my movers and shakers? Famous Ashley
Grant here. Welcome to More Movement, Please,
the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move
your body more. Today, I wanna talk about what
I would do if I was starting over. And since
I'm about four days now from day 365, as I've
mentioned, I've been reflecting a lot lately.
about this fitness journey and where things have
been, where they've been going, all the things.
And one of the biggest things that's been coming
to my mind is, God, I really wish I could have
started this sooner. So I guess that'd be number
one. If I could start over, I would have started
way sooner. And by sooner, I mean, I never would
have stopped moving whenever I got to college.
Like whenever I stopped moving, that's one of
my biggest regrets because I just can't help
but think about how much further along I would
be in my career, in my in my in my life if I
had never stopped moving. So that's the biggest
thing is that I would go back and I'd shake the
crap out of, you know, old Ashley, past Ashley,
and just tell her, like, whatever you do, don't
stop moving. I really wish that I had continued
moving even after I was finishing college. That's
one thing I really wish. Another thing is I never
Ashley reflects on using weight-loss pills and shots, calling it a waste of money since she gained the weight back once she stopped and couldn't afford the maintenance phase.
would have taken those pills and shots. I know
I wanted to lose weight, but the fact that I
used pills and shots, it was just such a waste
of money, especially since the second I stopped
that horrible diet, I gained it all back plus
some. And so it was just further proof that what
was the point? Yeah, OK, I looked good for a
little while and I felt good for a little while.
But the way that I did it, since it was not sustainable
and I did not. To be honest with you guys, I
did not have the money to do the maintenance
phase. Supposedly, allegedly, if I had gone through
the maintenance phase, I might have been able
to keep off the weight. But I'll never know.
And so the bigger thing is that it was a waste
of time and a waste of money. And I wish I hadn't
Ashley talks about how warped her thinking around food has become — feeling like she has to earn meals — and admits she pushed too hard without enough rest or balance.
done it. Other things that I probably would do
differently. I probably wouldn't be worrying
so much about every single little thing that
I consume. I have gotten really bad about diet
culture. Like, I did not realize just how warped
my mind has become in terms of, oh, you can't
eat this, you can't eat that. Yeah, okay, you
can't eat crap all the time, but it doesn't mean
that you should punish yourself or feel like
you have to earn certain things. eat a very large
meal or I'm going to be eating a lot of junk
food. I do feel still like I need to burn it
off. But how sad is it that we feel like we have
to earn the things that we're consuming? The
thing that I would do differently is I'd rest
more. And I know that sounds kind of crazy coming
from a girl who's telling you to move your body
more. I'm not telling you not to rest. And that
was part of the reason that I had to slow down
a little bit earlier this year. is I was overdoing
it and I finally had to admit that. But at the
same time, it's like, I think the bigger problem
was that I wasn't doing it with balance. I wasn't
getting enough rest in terms of, you know, going
to bed on time and really taking care of myself
in addition to working out. So that's another
mistake that I made is that I started pushing
so hard even when it felt like I needed the rest.
that I definitely was overdoing it. And I do
finally admit that. But basically the whole thing
is the biggest mistakes are I shouldn't have
done shots and pills. I should have started sooner.
And I do need to make sure that I am balanced
in terms of how I'm handling the movement and
the work. But yeah, the other mistake is that
I need to quit focusing on the scale. And I've
talked to you guys about that before too. It's
Ashley adds obsessing over the scale and not doing the journey for herself to her list of mistakes, then wraps up by encouraging listeners to start today and avoid the same pitfalls.
just it's one of those things that it gets so
ingrained in you. Oh, you have to be a certain
weight for your age and height. But they don't
take into account the fact that muscle weighs
more than fat. And so that's just heavy on my
mind, too. So it's not a lot of things I wish
I could do differently, but they are very impactful.
And so if you're just getting started on your
fitness journey, I guess I want you to think
about how you could do it better than I did.
If you are considering starting, go ahead and
start today. Don't wait till later. Do it now
and do it for yourself. There's another mistake.
Initially, I was not doing all this weight loss
stuff for me. I wasn't doing the fitness journey
for me. So that's a huge one that you've got
to do it for you. So yeah, start now. Don't wait.
Do it for yourself. Don't do the shots and pills.
Don't focus on diet culture. Forget about the
scale. Just get up, move your body, work out
every single day. in some capacity, move your
body. Onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you
worked out today?