Episode 46Mar 9, 2026· 9:15

The Truth About Fad Diets, Fitness Goals, and Why There's No Finish Line

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About this episode

Ashley Grant hosts a solo Q&A episode on her fitness podcast, reflecting on walking out of her first Zumba class after 15 minutes in August 2023, the trap of extreme calorie restriction and fad diets, and what she wishes she'd done differently. She discusses how regular exercise broke through a creative block in her freelance work, helped her pitch ideas with more confidence, and pulled her out of social isolation…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You've tried to start a fitness routine before and quit early — maybe even walked out of a class — and you're carrying a quiet embarrassment about it that makes it harder to try again.

You've convinced yourself you need to overhaul everything — go on a strict diet, cut calories drastically — before you can really 'start,' and it keeps you stuck.

You work from home and have slowly become a hermit — you miss people but the isolation has become your default, and it's starting to feel like something is off.

You've hit a goal — a number on the scale, a clothing size, a milestone — and instead of feeling satisfied, you feel a little lost about what comes next.

You're somewhere in the middle of a fitness journey that started rough, and you want to hear from someone who is also still in it — not someone who has it all figured out.

Questions this episode wrestles with

Do I actually need to overhaul my whole diet to make progress, or am I overthinking it?

answered

Ashley shares that she believed she had to go into a crazy calorie deficit and completely change everything about herself — and now sees that was wrong. What she actually needed was just to start putting in the work.

"back then. I thought I had to go into a crazy calorie deficit. I thought I had to go down to significantly less calories than I was consuming. I thought I had to diet really hardcore. I thought I had to completely change everything about myself. And the reality is that what I really needed to do was just start putting in the work. The"

Why do I keep setting up extreme plans that I can't stick to?

answered

Ashley's take is that fad diets and extreme dieting don't last — and when you frame it as 'I just won't eat this week,' you're setting yourself up to fail from the start.

"problem with fad diets and dieting in general is that they don't last. And whenever you start looking at life from a perspective of, OK, well, I just won't eat this week. You know, you fail."

Is it okay that my fitness goals keep changing, or does that mean I'm not committed?

answered

Ashley says yes, goals changing is a good thing — she walks through her own shifting targets from a scale number to blood pressure to clothing size to heavier weights, and lands on the view that having something to work towards keeps the motivation going.

"something to work towards, you always feel the motivation to keep going. And so I think that having your fitness goals change. is a good thing."

Will I ever feel like I've actually arrived with fitness, or does it just go on forever?

answered

Ashley says there's no finish line — and then catches herself on how morbid the honest answer is: 'the finish line would be whenever I stop breathing.' Her goal is to move her body every single day for the rest of her life.

"No, there's not. I guess I guess you could say the finish line would be when I take my last breath. That's wow. That's morbid. I didn't mean to just come out there with that, but that's just the truth. My goal is to move for the rest"

If I quit something early, does that define the whole attempt?

answered

Ashley reflects that walking out after 15 minutes wasn't the real regret — not going back in immediately was. Her advice to her past self was to take a breather and then go back in.

"one thing I do kind of regret is that. After that 15 minutes, I didn't even just come back immediately, and I really should have. Okay,"

Setting expectations: This episode is not an analysis of fad diets or a structured guide to fitness goal-setting. It's Ashley answering listener questions about her own ongoing journey — including walking out of a Zumba class in 2023, becoming a hermit working from home, and realizing the finish line is, bluntly, when she stops breathing.

Tone & style

Ashley starts from the belief that getting fit required extreme dieting and total self-overhaul, gets her first reality check walking out of a Zumba class winded after 15 minutes, and gradually shifts — dropping the scale obsession, reconnecting socially through fitness classes, and landing on the view that goals just keep evolving with no finish line in sight.

Personal experience and hindsight. Ashley shares what she now believes based on her own journey, not researched claims or expert guidance.

toneCandid & warm

focusAshley answers listener questions about her own fitness journey — what she'd tell her August 2023 self, how working out broke her out of hermit mode, and why she thinks there's no finish line.

stylesolo_monologue

energymedium_low

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Texturewarm, honest, unpolished, self-deprecating

Notable quotes

"back then. I thought I had to go into a crazy calorie deficit. I thought I had to go down to significantly less calories than I was consuming. I thought I had to diet really hardcore. I thought I had to completely change everything about myself."

— Famous Ashley Grant

"one thing I do kind of regret is that. After that 15 minutes, I didn't even just come back immediately, and I really should have. Okay,"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"from home. I was becoming somewhat of a hermit. And so by being able to get out and see people in my in my fitness classes, that was starting to really help me feel like I was part of a community again and like I was not just a hermit in a shell."

— Famous Ashley Grant

"does. Initially, when I first got started, I had a goal weight in mind. I now see that chasing a scale number is not what I should be doing."

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 5 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:001. Intro and the First Zumba Class WalkoutAshley introduces the Q&A format and answers what she would tell her August 2023 self who walked out of her first Zumba class after 15 minutes — mainly to listen to the instructor and not believe everything she thought about needing extreme diets.2:302. How Fitness Changed Her Creativity and WorkAshley describes how working out cleared her mental block, generated new content ideas, and gave her more confidence to pitch creative assignments to clients.3:303. Breaking Out of Hermit Mode Through Fitness ClassesAshley talks about being an introverted extrovert who was becoming a hermit working from home, and how fitness classes helped her feel part of a community again — including joining a pool league and scheduling calendar reminders to check in on people.5:304. Is There a Finish Line in Fitness?Ashley answers whether there's a finish line in fitness — her blunt answer is no, the finish line is when she stops breathing — and walks through how her goals have shifted from a scale number to blood pressure, clothing size, and heavier weights.8:005. Closing Thanks and Call to ReflectAshley wraps up by thanking listeners for their questions, sharing that knowing she's not alone in the journey keeps her motivated, and directing people to her website to send voice notes.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personFamous Ashley Grant

The host of More Movement Please, sharing her personal fitness journey through a Q&A format — reflecting on walking out of her first Zumba class in August 2023 and how her goals have evolved since.

websitefamousashleygrant.com/fitness

Ashley's website where she directs listeners to leave voice notes and messages about the podcast.

Key themes

Walking out of the first Zumba class

Ashley reflects on leaving her first Zumba class after 15 minutes in August 2023 because she was completely winded, and what she wishes she had done differently.

Fad diets and calorie restriction don't last

Ashley describes how she used to believe she needed extreme calorie deficits and hardcore dieting, and now sees that mindset as setting herself up to fail.

Fitness clearing a creative mental block

Ashley says working out started clearing her head during a period when she was hitting a creative wall, which led to more content ideas and more confidence pitching clients.

Becoming a hermit working from home

Ashley describes how working from home had turned her into a hermit, and how showing up to fitness classes gave her a sense of community she had lost.

Scheduling check-ins with people on a calendar

Ashley explains her habit of adding calendar reminders to check in with people — including around surgeries or nerve-wracking appointments — because day-to-day life makes it easy to forget others exist.

No finish line — it ends when you stop breathing

Ashley's blunt answer to whether there's a finish line in fitness is that there isn't one — the finish line is when she takes her last breath, because her goal is to move every day for the rest of her life.

Chasing a scale number vs. feeling better

Ashley describes shifting away from a goal weight on the scale toward goals like controlling blood pressure and feeling more fit, while also tracking concrete things like clothing size and weight increments.

Goals keep shifting as you hit them

Ashley walks through how her specific targets — from 3lb weights to 8s and 15s, from wanting a size medium to now being curious about a small — have kept moving every time she reaches one.

Knowing she's not alone keeps her going

Ashley closes by saying that listener questions and the sense of shared journey are what keep her motivated to keep showing up.

Connected episodes

Shared experience

Why restriction-based dieting fails

#13Why Your Body Knows Better Than Any Diet: Listen to These Natural Signals

Shared experience

Fad diets fail long-term

#23Stop 30-Day Challenges: Why Baby Steps Beat Fad Diets for Lasting Results

Contrast

Is stopping movement ever acceptable?

#67Less Movement, Please? Wait, WHAT?!?