Transcript
What would I say to the girl in August, 2023?
Listen to the instructor and do what she says.
What's up you guys, famous Ashley Grant here.
Welcome to More Movement Please, the podcast
where I hope to inspire you to move your body
more. I got some more fun questions and I thought,
you know what? Let's do another Q &A day. It's
fun getting these questions and then answering
them because some of the things that I have even
forgotten about. I'm able to reflect on and then
kind of just give you guys the raw and real answers.
So one of the questions I got was, what would
you say to the version of yourself who walked
out of that first Zumba class after 15 minutes?
So this is related to the fact that I had mentioned
that in August, 2023, whenever I took my very
first Zumba class after 15 minutes, I was completely
winded and could not handle the class. And I
had to walk out. So if I could go back and talk
to that girl, I would say to her, listen to the
fitness instructor. Just do what she says because
she's right. And I hate admitting sometimes when
people are right, especially whenever I don't
want to do what they tell me to do. But yeah,
if I had just listened to her that day when she
said you can do more than you think you can,
I probably would be a lot further along in my
fitness journey and have met a lot more of my
goals much sooner than I have now. I also probably
would tell that girl that don't believe everything
you think. Because I believed a lot of things
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
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.
You set yourself up to fail. So if I could go
back to August 2023, Ashley, and tell her anything,
I would say stay the course. You know, even if
you have to walk out after that 15 minutes, just
take a breather and then go back in. Like, that's
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,
another question that came in, and I find this
one kind of interesting. It was, how has getting
fit changed how you show up in other areas of
your life, such as work, relationships, and creativity?
Believe it or not, it has actually helped a lot
in terms of creativity because I get more ideas
than I had. So I was starting to come to a mental
block creatively. And I have to say that because
of the fact that I was starting to work out,
it was starting to make my mind clear up a little
bit. It was starting to help me like just take
a breather and get really clear on some things.
And so creatively, it's helped a lot. And because
what I do for a living is creative work, it's
helped me big time in terms of work. It's given
me some really fun. ideas for content. And so
I've pitched those kinds of things to clients,
I've had a lot more confidence to ask to do some
of the assignments that I want to do. And so
that's been that's been helpful as well. In terms
of relationships, it's also helped me there because
I'm, I'm a very, I'm what you call an introverted
extrovert. And what I mean by that is, I love
being around people, I get a real kick out of
like hanging out with people. And in that respect,
I'm very extroverted. But it comes to a point
where I'm like, okay, I gotta recharge, recharge
my social batteries. And so I was starting to
get to a point where I was really getting frustrated
with just how I never really saw anybody. I work
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.
So relationships wise, it's actually expanded
the number of relationships that I have and it's
been helping me. with other relationships in
terms of like, you know, I'm starting to show
up more for people. I do this thing where I'll
put into my calendar, if I haven't checked in
with someone for a while, I will make a point
to add it to my calendar to check in with them.
I set timers and I set, you know, appointments
to just check in with people because I really
do genuinely care about others, but it's very
easy whenever you are in the monotony of day
-to -day life to forget that. Other people exist.
And I know that sounds terrible to say, but I
think we're all guilty of it. We all, you know,
just we get so caught up in our day to day lives
that if I don't make that point to add it into
my calendar, like, hey, this person said they
were going to have surgery on this day. So I
add it to my calendar so that I can check in
with them. Or if I find out, you know, someone's
having, you know, some sort of a. an appointment
or whatever that they're nervous about, I make
a calendar entry to check in with them and just
check in and see how they're doing. So relationships
wise, it's actually been really beneficial for
me. And where I was becoming such a hermit, I
feel like I'm breaking back out of that shell.
And I'm really loving it. I even joined the pool
league since I started going hardcore with fitness.
And I'm really enjoying just how much I'm hanging
out with others again. And it's been so I guess
in that respect, fitness has really opened me
back up. in a lot of ways. And OK, another question
that came in and I'll stop with this one. This
one I find kind of funny. It's is there a finish
line in fitness or does your goal keep changing?
And is that a good thing? Is there a finish line?
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
of my life. I want to move my body every single
day for the rest of my life. So in terms of a
finish line, yeah, that's just the truth. The
finish line would be whenever I stop breathing.
Does the goal keep changing? Yeah, kind of. It
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.
I should be... trying to feel better about myself
and feel more fit. One of the things that was
a fitness goal was to get my blood pressure under
control. And I've done that. And I was trying
to kind of regulate, you know. my stress levels.
And I'm still working on that. I'm definitely
having, you know, some issues with that that
I'm still working through. But so and then goals,
do they keep changing? Absolutely. Whenever I
first got started, I was using threes for my
small weights and fives for my bigs. And very
quickly, I wanted to get to fives and tens as
you know, my my smalls and bigs. And shortly
after that, I wanted to go to, you know, the
seven and a half and the and the 15s. And now
I'm using eights and 15s but my goal is to get
to 10s and 20s and I know that that will change
once I get once I get there as well the other
thing was I really wanted to just get to a size
medium in my pants and I've done that now and
initially I thought okay medium that's the goal
and then I'll be where I want to be but now I
actually am going for better like I I would like
to see if I could get to a small I I'm fascinated
by the idea of seeing if I could get to a small.
Who knows? I don't know if I can. Is it a good
thing? I think yes. I think if you always have
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.
I really do. So I'll stop there because I don't
want this to be too long. But thank you again
for once again, sending in some awesome questions.
Like I said, I get such a kick out of the questions
that you guys send in. I've been getting them
in DMs and I just appreciate it, man. I think
it's so cool to be able to reflect on this kind
of stuff. And hopefully it inspires you to reflect
on your own journey and kind of just think about
where you are now and where you want to be. And
I love it, man. I really do. And if you guys
want to send me a voice note or a message or
whatever, just go to famousashleygrant .com backslash
fitness. And you can leave me a voice note and
all those good things. And I just, I appreciate
you guys so much for tuning in and, and being
here with me because knowing that I'm not on
my own in this journey, it's, it's really helpful.
It really makes me feel like I'm, I'm more inspired
to, to keep showing up, to keep coming back and
to keep putting. putting my best efforts out
there. And so, yeah, just thanks so much, guys.
I really appreciate it. Onwards and upwards,
my friends. Have you worked out today?