Episode 46Mar 9, 2026· 9:15
The Truth About Fad Diets, Fitness Goals, and Why There's No Finish Line
About this episode
What if the biggest thing holding you back in fitness isn't your body, but it's what you believe? In this Q&A episode of More Movement Please, Ashley gets raw and reflective answering listener questions she didn't see coming.
She revisits the moment she walked out of her very first Zumba class after 15 minutes, what she wishes she'd told herself that day, and the one piece of advice from her instructor she…
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MaryMay 22, 2026
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I found this podcast completely by accident, and now it’s my constant companion on trips.
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Full transcript
00:00
What would I say to the girl in August, 2023?
00:02
Listen to the instructor and do what she says.
00:11
What's up you guys, famous Ashley Grant here.
00:12
Welcome to More Movement Please, the podcast
00:14
where I hope to inspire you to move your body
00:16
more. I got some more fun questions and I thought,
00:18
you know what? Let's do another Q &A day. It's
00:22
fun getting these questions and then answering
00:23
them because some of the things that I have even
00:25
forgotten about. I'm able to reflect on and then
00:28
kind of just give you guys the raw and real answers.
00:31
So one of the questions I got was, what would
00:33
you say to the version of yourself who walked
00:36
out of that first Zumba class after 15 minutes?
00:38
So this is related to the fact that I had mentioned
00:41
that in August, 2023, whenever I took my very
00:43
first Zumba class after 15 minutes, I was completely
00:46
winded and could not handle the class. And I
00:48
had to walk out. So if I could go back and talk
00:52
to that girl, I would say to her, listen to the
00:55
fitness instructor. Just do what she says because
00:57
she's right. And I hate admitting sometimes when
01:00
people are right, especially whenever I don't
01:03
want to do what they tell me to do. But yeah,
01:06
if I had just listened to her that day when she
01:09
said you can do more than you think you can,
01:11
I probably would be a lot further along in my
01:15
fitness journey and have met a lot more of my
01:17
goals much sooner than I have now. I also probably
01:21
would tell that girl that don't believe everything
01:24
you think. Because I believed a lot of things
01:28
back then. I thought I had to go into a crazy
01:31
calorie deficit. I thought I had to go down to
01:34
significantly less calories than I was consuming.
01:38
I thought I had to diet really hardcore. I thought
01:40
I had to completely change everything about myself.
01:43
And the reality is that what I really needed
01:46
to do was just start putting in the work. The
01:50
problem with fad diets and dieting in general
01:53
is that they don't last. And whenever you start
01:57
looking at life from a perspective of, OK, well,
02:00
I just won't eat this week. You know, you fail.
02:03
You set yourself up to fail. So if I could go
02:06
back to August 2023, Ashley, and tell her anything,
02:09
I would say stay the course. You know, even if
02:12
you have to walk out after that 15 minutes, just
02:14
take a breather and then go back in. Like, that's
02:17
one thing I do kind of regret is that. After
02:19
that 15 minutes, I didn't even just come back
02:21
immediately, and I really should have. Okay,
02:25
another question that came in, and I find this
02:27
one kind of interesting. It was, how has getting
02:29
fit changed how you show up in other areas of
02:32
your life, such as work, relationships, and creativity?
02:36
Believe it or not, it has actually helped a lot
02:38
in terms of creativity because I get more ideas
02:43
than I had. So I was starting to come to a mental
02:48
block creatively. And I have to say that because
02:52
of the fact that I was starting to work out,
02:54
it was starting to make my mind clear up a little
02:56
bit. It was starting to help me like just take
02:59
a breather and get really clear on some things.
03:01
And so creatively, it's helped a lot. And because
03:04
what I do for a living is creative work, it's
03:07
helped me big time in terms of work. It's given
03:09
me some really fun. ideas for content. And so
03:13
I've pitched those kinds of things to clients,
03:15
I've had a lot more confidence to ask to do some
03:17
of the assignments that I want to do. And so
03:19
that's been that's been helpful as well. In terms
03:21
of relationships, it's also helped me there because
03:24
I'm, I'm a very, I'm what you call an introverted
03:27
extrovert. And what I mean by that is, I love
03:30
being around people, I get a real kick out of
03:32
like hanging out with people. And in that respect,
03:34
I'm very extroverted. But it comes to a point
03:36
where I'm like, okay, I gotta recharge, recharge
03:38
my social batteries. And so I was starting to
03:42
get to a point where I was really getting frustrated
03:44
with just how I never really saw anybody. I work
03:47
from home. I was becoming somewhat of a hermit.
03:50
And so by being able to get out and see people
03:54
in my in my fitness classes, that was starting
03:56
to really help me feel like I was part of a community
03:58
again and like I was not just a hermit in a shell.
04:02
So relationships wise, it's actually expanded
04:05
the number of relationships that I have and it's
04:07
been helping me. with other relationships in
04:10
terms of like, you know, I'm starting to show
04:13
up more for people. I do this thing where I'll
04:16
put into my calendar, if I haven't checked in
04:17
with someone for a while, I will make a point
04:20
to add it to my calendar to check in with them.
04:22
I set timers and I set, you know, appointments
04:24
to just check in with people because I really
04:28
do genuinely care about others, but it's very
04:30
easy whenever you are in the monotony of day
04:33
-to -day life to forget that. Other people exist.
04:37
And I know that sounds terrible to say, but I
04:39
think we're all guilty of it. We all, you know,
04:41
just we get so caught up in our day to day lives
04:43
that if I don't make that point to add it into
04:46
my calendar, like, hey, this person said they
04:48
were going to have surgery on this day. So I
04:49
add it to my calendar so that I can check in
04:51
with them. Or if I find out, you know, someone's
04:53
having, you know, some sort of a. an appointment
04:57
or whatever that they're nervous about, I make
05:00
a calendar entry to check in with them and just
05:02
check in and see how they're doing. So relationships
05:04
wise, it's actually been really beneficial for
05:06
me. And where I was becoming such a hermit, I
05:09
feel like I'm breaking back out of that shell.
05:11
And I'm really loving it. I even joined the pool
05:13
league since I started going hardcore with fitness.
05:16
And I'm really enjoying just how much I'm hanging
05:19
out with others again. And it's been so I guess
05:23
in that respect, fitness has really opened me
05:25
back up. in a lot of ways. And OK, another question
05:30
that came in and I'll stop with this one. This
05:33
one I find kind of funny. It's is there a finish
05:35
line in fitness or does your goal keep changing?
05:38
And is that a good thing? Is there a finish line?
05:42
No, there's not. I guess I guess you could say
05:45
the finish line would be when I take my last
05:46
breath. That's wow. That's morbid. I didn't mean
05:49
to just come out there with that, but that's
05:51
just the truth. My goal is to move for the rest
05:53
of my life. I want to move my body every single
05:56
day for the rest of my life. So in terms of a
05:58
finish line, yeah, that's just the truth. The
06:01
finish line would be whenever I stop breathing.
06:04
Does the goal keep changing? Yeah, kind of. It
06:06
does. Initially, when I first got started, I
06:10
had a goal weight in mind. I now see that chasing
06:13
a scale number is not what I should be doing.
06:17
I should be... trying to feel better about myself
06:19
and feel more fit. One of the things that was
06:22
a fitness goal was to get my blood pressure under
06:24
control. And I've done that. And I was trying
06:27
to kind of regulate, you know. my stress levels.
06:30
And I'm still working on that. I'm definitely
06:32
having, you know, some issues with that that
06:34
I'm still working through. But so and then goals,
06:37
do they keep changing? Absolutely. Whenever I
06:39
first got started, I was using threes for my
06:42
small weights and fives for my bigs. And very
06:45
quickly, I wanted to get to fives and tens as
06:49
you know, my my smalls and bigs. And shortly
06:51
after that, I wanted to go to, you know, the
06:53
seven and a half and the and the 15s. And now
06:57
I'm using eights and 15s but my goal is to get
07:00
to 10s and 20s and I know that that will change
07:03
once I get once I get there as well the other
07:06
thing was I really wanted to just get to a size
07:09
medium in my pants and I've done that now and
07:13
initially I thought okay medium that's the goal
07:15
and then I'll be where I want to be but now I
07:18
actually am going for better like I I would like
07:22
to see if I could get to a small I I'm fascinated
07:26
by the idea of seeing if I could get to a small.
07:27
Who knows? I don't know if I can. Is it a good
07:29
thing? I think yes. I think if you always have
07:32
something to work towards, you always feel the
07:34
motivation to keep going. And so I think that
07:37
having your fitness goals change. is a good thing.
07:40
I really do. So I'll stop there because I don't
07:44
want this to be too long. But thank you again
07:46
for once again, sending in some awesome questions.
07:48
Like I said, I get such a kick out of the questions
07:51
that you guys send in. I've been getting them
07:53
in DMs and I just appreciate it, man. I think
07:57
it's so cool to be able to reflect on this kind
08:00
of stuff. And hopefully it inspires you to reflect
08:02
on your own journey and kind of just think about
08:05
where you are now and where you want to be. And
08:07
I love it, man. I really do. And if you guys
08:10
want to send me a voice note or a message or
08:13
whatever, just go to famousashleygrant .com backslash
08:15
fitness. And you can leave me a voice note and
08:18
all those good things. And I just, I appreciate
08:21
you guys so much for tuning in and, and being
08:23
here with me because knowing that I'm not on
08:27
my own in this journey, it's, it's really helpful.
08:29
It really makes me feel like I'm, I'm more inspired
08:31
to, to keep showing up, to keep coming back and
08:34
to keep putting. putting my best efforts out
08:36
there. And so, yeah, just thanks so much, guys.
08:39
I really appreciate it. Onwards and upwards,
08:41
my friends. Have you worked out today?
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