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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
Top 10 Behaviors of Women Who Stay Lean Year-Round (copy)
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living
hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of
women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and
inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism,
motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and
active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential and become inspired to live your most
vibrant life. You're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for hiking podcast. What's up guys?
Welcome back to the show. This is your host Brady. I am so excited to be back with you guys. If you
listen to last week. Last week's episode, you know that I took a little sabbatical, a little break, and it's
been so nice to be back. So I hope you guys enjoyed last week's episode. If you have not listened to that
one, it is really, really helpful. If you're struggling to figure out the balance of social life, travel all the
things, and also having your skills and maybe a little bit of a reality check for you. How you are setting
your goals to live your life. Today though, we're going to be talking about behaviors of women are lean
year round, and I know sometimes it's easy to look at. People online are people that, you know, even in
real life that are just kind of always. Always look pretty good. They're always healthy and like, okay,
they just have good today. They just have like some great motivation that I don't have or, you know, they
just don't care whatever that looks like, the kind of things that we tell ourselves. Like, why are they so
lean? And I usually think, um, and let's actually talk about the differences in their behaviors, what they're
doing on the basis, because it's not because of their genetics. I can tell you this person has now been a
body for the past five years. Pregnancy went through all the excuses that I used to give myself, and now
I've been able to. I know now that it is not, um, it is 100% based daily things that we are doing, our
mindset, our behaviors, our habits. So we're going to talk about how to actually do sustainable manner,
how to incorporate online. Also someone stays around without going to resort to crazy dieting, miserable
food, all like that. So we're going to talk about why short term dieting and long maintenance are actually
skills, and why honestly does matter so much more than that all the time. But really understanding what
that actually looks like and means and that you don't need special genetics, trendy workout clothes,
expensive sliding memberships or anything like that in order to do these things and successful and see
someone who, I mean lean body around. Okay, so let's get into it. We got to get it. So number one. They
plan ahead on me. And I know that this sounds so like, okay, yesterday, but we're not doing it. Let's be
honest. Are you actually doing this? Because this is I will argue with the number one thing that you need
doing. If you're struggling to get lean, you need to be intentional with your planning. That doesn't have to
look like a 20 step process. So this has been super overwhelming. And I promise you it does not have to
look like that. I certainly not do that every single week, but here are some of the things that I do and that
other women were saying lean are doing. One is they have go to meals that they're falling back on, that
they're doing most of the time that require less things. When we get overwhelmed, we just go for
convenience. We fall back to our old habit patterns that we like that are okay. So we need to avoid
overwhelm that is so important when they have their go to protein sources dialed in. Things like fat,
Greek yogurt, tuna packet chicken, smoked salmon, cottage cheese, chicken salad, protein powder, eggs
and egg whites like turkey, chicken, sausage, things like that. They have those things stocked every
single along with that. Ordering groceries once a week. Maybe that's on Sunday. For me, I don't do that
on Sunday or Monday, and I have those things ready to go. And then having a general plan for the week
based on the things that you're ordering, not just like ordering a bunch of random stuff and hoping it all
fits together again, not overwhelming, but having the rest of you planned out. How are you putting this
all together? What are you doing for your breakfast? What are you doing for your lunches? What are you
doing for your dinner? What are your actions? If you put no thought into it, then you're setting yourself
up for a lot of stress. A lot of question marks and just kind of fall back to what? Easy is what's actually
aligned with the body, the healthy one. So yes, this does take extra planning and effort, but if you want
like a fabulous physique, you're going to have to put in that extra effort. I'm sorry. It's not going to
happen by accident or by doing the things that everybody else does and really put in extra time and
energy. And honestly, the more you do this, the longer you do this, it gets easier and it no longer requires.
And you want to have your coaching, you know, the process you need to do in order to get. Really. Cook
some protein parmesan in bulk to make it easier. Like somebody you know, if you have a spouse you
like, you grill like a free package of chicken breast that there is a pot. Just throw some things in the oven.
Have a couple protein sources for one year. Same with carbs either getting like three cook you know,
quinoa back, right back like that, or just cooking a few things so that you have those on Sunday or on
under Monday heading into the week. So potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, any sort of like lentil noodles.
Right. All of those things are great options. And then it's easy to just throw on your protein like a sort of
veggie and just throw together a little bit easier and still have a healthy option. Combining protein with
fiber rich veggies and healthy fats. It really does not have to be that complicated. Shopping with that goal
in mind. Throwing together bowls, throwing together salads together. Meals where you're getting a good
protein, a veggie, uh, fiber rich are. And then usually like your sauce or your dressing or the oil that
you're cooking in, whatever that looks like for your bathroom. Don't Get that extra fat, I promise you.
You're probably going to get it without even realizing it. So just having some good throw together and
then building mills meals that satisfy instead of having like protein bars. Little tiny portions that are cute,
but they're not actually filling you up. They're not even they don't have enough fiber that you're being
okay with repetition in every single meal. Not even the most exciting meal or light a lot of the week. And
then you can save those those special, like fun, really flavorful meals for things like social events out,
even like dinners. Try to make it a little bit special, but like breakfast and lunches are honestly just like, I
gotta fuel. I gotta get these things in my day dinner to be a little bit more fun and more flavorful weekend
social event. But not every single meal has to be okay with it or not. Okay. Real or. This will just be
harder. I'm not saying you can't do that. You can have more variety, but it will make the process tougher
and require a lot more prep energy. Um. Okay. And a quick little freebie for you guys. If you are
struggling with figuring out meals, you send me the word protein. I get started with, like, grocery
shopping lists, how to prep all the things. All right. Number two, women who stay lean year round are
moving throughout the day, not just during their workouts. I know this sounds like duh, but I can't even
tell you how often people think that they're active and not actually look at their daily routine. It's a whole
lot of sitting. Go here and you sit right where you're going. There's not a whole lot of actual. So doing
things like planning walk out dinner at your family party, far away household, past active hobbies,
getting outside with family or myself again, going at a restaurant in a bar. Those. Right. Plan for active
hobbies. All of those things will be your genesis. That accounts for so much more calories for you and
your phone calls, getting a walk or marching in place while you watch a movie. I have done this when I
look really silly, but it's going to add up over things are going to help increase your daily energy
expenditure and make that last year without added cardio. All you need to look for ways to stay active,
build it into your day, and just someone who is on the same as active actually helps. Energize. Like tired.
You're tired because you're hitting all the time. You're tired because you're not working out, so this will
create more energetic lifestyle for you. And also just looking for ways in your workday. Like, sure, you
know, if you're listening to I work for nine hours at a desk. Look for ways to break it up, set an alarm
every two hours for like 5:00 to watch you mark whatever that looks like. It does not have to look like an
hour break. Go for a walk. Just building in the habit around with your workday. They really, really, really
challenge you to add in a at least a ten minute walk after one meal every single day for the next. How you
go? All right. Number three women who stay lean year round are training with strength consistently three
times a week. Okay, and I know that this sounds basic, but in reality most people are not like. So I'm
talking like 50 to 52 weeks a year. You are three weeks. And I am living proof of this work because over
the last years I never because I'm so busy in my business, all these things I'm only doing three days a
week. You can actually build an amazing lean year round with only doing all the other behaviors on top
of really, truly doing this. Really smart. It's actually implementing progressive overload. Not just like
random exercises, not wandering around the gym, not looking at your body weight around an actual
smart plan. Strength training is going to help preserve muscle, and those women are losing muscle every
single year. If they are not doing strength training after 830, it's the entire body composition. Hormones,
mood, overall strength. Don't need to be doing these exhausting cardio based workouts in order to see
body actually argue that is detrimental and worse for you. Then just feeling really hard and feeling really
sweaty or feeling the burn does not translate to the way it might feel hard. And I totally, you know, I am
a testament. I did workout, I felt really hard, I was exhausted, I was sweaty, I was butt off, but I was
actually more inflamed here, heavier than I am now. I do it, and it's because that style of training was not
actually beneficial for body. So make sure that you are putting effort into the things that will matter most
to your body, not just the thing that people are being used to, but they feel hard, or look hard or get you
super sweaty in store. Okay, having a smart, progressive style is absolutely essential if you want to
maximize your workout. And really looking at what you really do that year. Not before we can then
burning out. Okay. That consistency is huge. You can't do it consistently. You're not going to get the
results. Okay. So I want you to schedule two manageable strength training sessions. You have no idea
where to start. We're working with you. So learn the skills to figure out how to actually build out a work
plan that you implement for the rest of your life. Investing in this for six months or something in such a
small price to pay to actually know what you're doing, and then be able to do it for the rest of your life.
How do you feel for life if you always get too expensive or whatever? But then like, look at how much
you drop out on alcohol, on nights, out with friends and all these things over six months. Investing in
yourself for long term knowledge skills and getting a decision that you're happy with is a worthwhile
investment. You just have to shift your mindset around. Okay, so let's move on. Behavior number four. If
they don't turn one indulgence into a completely lost cause, one meal is not detrimental to your overall
goals or health or body. In the same way that one good meal does not magically transform your physique.
Okay. You have to look at it the same way. If what you're doing most of the time, and if you let one meal
out or a really bad day turn into this like restriction over cycle, that's where you get yourself in trouble.
And it's really easy to feel crappy, like, okay, I'm just not this day. But then are you doing that every
single week where you get to the point where you restrict the whole weekend? I definitely found myself
in that cycle in the 20s, and I kept gaining weight, even though I felt like I was restricting all the time. I
was restricting more like five days out of the week and. Thing that I was doing on the weekend was
completely outweighing any deficit that I created. So instead of letting it be this big mental derail where
you're like, oh my God, ruined everything. Just get right back on the land. And don't over don't don't give
it too much credit. Don't. Make room for your favorite food without labeling the failures. That's a really
big one. If you constantly say that you are off diet or did or whatever that was like for you because a
chocolate or because you had a glass of wine or you had a burger, then that's not a sustainable lifestyle.
One thing that has helped so much over the years, I guess, is having those foods, but in smaller because it
no longer feels like taboo. Like, oh my gosh, have chocolate to go off the rails? No, I just have a
chocolate chip and move on with my life. And I don't save it for the weekend and then flip it. So that is
really, really helpful actually starting doing more but just getting a better grip. Okay. Number five.
Women who stay around are protecting sleep. And I know this sounds boring, but it does matter if you
have no idea. Every night that's going to lead to many aspects of. Rhythm could be off because you're
experiencing all this blue light into your eyeballs until late at night. Your brain is going to process that as
that. It's still the feel of the day because of that light. So then you're not going to get quality. You're off
your rhythm. Um, also going back to your hunger level, you are under slept. Your hunger hormone
ghrelin increases and it makes it harder to keep on actually full. All the chronic stress. It's hard to take. It
can throw off your energy, your mood. All right. So it's not just one simple decision that it affects a lot.
And it also helps. So so having hey, I am in my own way do not disturb me at it. Read a book, take back
routine and listen to an audiobook or whatever that looks like to you for the next 30 minutes until I drop.
But having some sort of letting yourself sleep habits that really match your overall stress rhythm. So I
want you to choose one sporting habit and practice the next seven. Really religious about it. Look at
where you need to improve the most. What's the thing that is hindering you with your sleep? And I want
you to address that first. Okay. Number six, this is a huge one. And it's backed by psychology. Women
who stay lean around and people who stay around have non-negotiables instead of relying on energy or.
This is such an important one. You cannot miss if you do not make these things non-negotiable, non-
negotiable part of your life. This will always feel like a battle. You have to get to a point where you
categorize your fitness, your nutrition, your meal plan, all these things at the same level of like taking
care of your kids, brushing your teeth, of sleeping, all the things that you just do because you know that
you have to like. Yeah, I don't always feel like going to school, but I'm not going to leave them there like
I have to. I don't always feel like brushing my teeth, but I do it because I know that I need you. Same
with your fitness. Same with your hair until you start categorising it as non-negotiable. It's always going
to be the first thing that drops off, like stressful when things happen. So you have to start that over to I
don't care what's happening in my life, I have four ways to do it. It makes it a lot easier if you have those
convenient, nutritious foods available. If you are doing the prep on Sunday, you have your go to go. Do
you already schedule your workouts like their appointment? Just say, these are the three days that I'm
making it happen, and this time, because this is my life. Having a backup a stressful week. If they get
crazy, how are you still going to support yourself? You need to reduce the friction and all of the
overwhelming your life. Simplify it as they possibly can because. Because the less you negotiate with
yourself every day. Easier only to just say without having to think so hard about it all. Number seven let
me say lean year round. Don't put life. This is huge. I've coached hundreds of women over the past 30
years, and with my own experiences, and the women who I've seen thrive and be successful in my
program. This is one that you cannot if you quit or just do an on off cycle whenever life gets messy. This
is going to be so hard for you for the rest of your life. You're going to struggle to maintain the results or
ever get the results. Okay, sustainable habits need to accommodate for illness, travel, work, family
responsibility, having visitors and having a social event, having kids. All these things that people view as
like, oh well, because of the things, I just can't do it anymore. I'm going to have to put this on hold for the
next month. If you're always putting things on hold, it's never going to get easier. Life is never going to
be stress free. You no longer have any bumps in the road that are constantly waiting for XYZ to end, and
they start never end up starting because then something else. They have house issues. They have a car
issue. They have a job. They do relationships. There's always going to be okay. So I really, really
encourage you if you're someone who's always waiting for this, you know, wonderful, ideal time in your
life when the kids are a little older, when they're in school, when you know the new year, when my job
will stop waiting, just start like, literally today. Don't wait till Monday. Don't wait till November. Don't
wait till January. Just redo it. Start implementing that because that is probably the number one thing
holding you back. You're always waiting and you're always waiting for. I'm very passionate about this. If
you guys can't tell, okay, the plans you intend to restrict, you're not going to be able to keep at it. So you
need to make sure that you understand what's going on in your life and is not making this unrealistic.
That's a big part of what we do in our health, our lives. It's so cool and so rewarding to see the women
who are busy moms are juggling so much. They're always like, man, I don't feel like I expect things
perfectly. And yet then they get on the scale, or they do a workout, or they do their measurements and
they're like, oh my God, I'm still making progress because they didn't just throw in the towel. Nothing.
Even if it didn't look perfect, even though life was messy and it wasn't what they expected. They still
kept doing what they could and they were accountable to someone else. That is number eight. They
understand and they feel like, just give me the address because I don't feel like in the US, we have a
really good handle on portion sizes and honoring our hunger. It's like, oh my gosh, the portion sizes here
are crazy. Um, and I think we have this feeling like I need stuff after every single meal. I never feel
hungry. We are so afraid of feeling hungry. And actually, we really need to regulate our nervous system
to not feel so afraid. So you constantly want to feel that you're afraid to ever go to bed. Every feeling of
your life. That's kind of a nervous system. So it's definitely something that you want to look at mentally.
Why am I so afraid of feeling angry? Why do I feel this after everything? Um. And also just reevaluating
out a lot. Um, I want you to practice half of your meal and taking a deep breath, bringing in a glass of
water after you finish that feeling. If you're still really hungry. Ten minutes later. More. But the portion
sizes in the US are so large that most of the time we end up overeating every single time we go out. So
going out to eat a lot is going to be hard to leave going. Also, this notion that you need to have 3 to 4
meals a day, you don't need to be, you know, gorging yourself every single day. It's okay to do and then
stop, start. All right. So getting back here and really looking at my distress, my lonely and my emotional
overwhelm. Am I bored? Am I just in a social setting? Why am I feeling this? Need to eat and eat at like
six? Also, something that really helped me is choosing the most important aspect of the meal when eating
out with friends or being at a supplement. Like if I'm out and about and I know that I have a way too
much because of everything we offered. I'm going to look around and evaluate what are the most
important and memorable things about the meal. Is it an appetizer to itself? Is it a dessert? It's okay. And
then picking and choosing. You can't really have all of that. If you want to be really working on getting
lean or fat loss or meaning. Um, you know, you can maybe do that every once in a while, but not all the
time, because that's definitely going to be a large, large number. You can pick and choose, say, with this
meal. I really want to give me the appetizer and my meal and a good diet or something. Um, that and not
go overboard drinking. And so pick and choose what's most important to you for that particular social
event. Behavior. Number nine. Women who stay long around are not operating. This is so, so important.
I talked about this analogy before. About what we do is if we look up, then we say, oh my gosh. Like
getting a flyer on the side of the road through it and you fall through your other tires. It makes no sense. I
would do that right. It would be like breaking a glass in your kitchen and you shatter all the rest of your
kitchenware. We would never do this in real life all the time. With our fitness workout, if we have a bad
meal and we just operate in every day, all, like, start again. Um, so removing that all or nothing mentality
is probably one of the biggest things that truly it makes all of us. Um, so, you know, having this
mentality of like, if I only do 20 minutes and there's no point, 20 minutes add up a lot, 20 minutes every
single day of a walk or a workout. Day after day, week after week versus just doing nothing. Scrolling
your phone instead. It's worth it. There will be work where you even work out at all. What can you still
focus on instead of it being an all or nothing? Because I can work out and I'm doing whatever I want and
through it know, like still get out for a walk. Still. Focus on hitting your calorie target, your protein
target, whatever it is that you're focusing on for your specific goal. And if you always are operating in the
extreme with your fitness with like start, stop date, extreme diets, workout plan that you never really stick
to. It might be time to really evaluate what's going on similar to the last. So much of this is it's like these
things that we have a mental roadblock for the patterns that we do with our brain. And so having to
actually talk to you about this stuff, honestly, I think that's the most beneficial part of coaching, is we are
working. Why are we why are we always popping these tires when we have one? It's so important to
have a person to talk to about this stuff. Otherwise, it would be really easy to just slip back into those
normal patterns and never really evaluate the mindset. Why are we? And number ten, women who stay
lean year round are learning swaps and tricks to make things easier. So things like substituting high
calorie sources that are low calorie and sugary like that, there's so many amazing acts of like, okay, I'm
going to use a sugar free Japanese barbecue sauce for sure, right? And that will save you hundreds of
calories for using nonfat yogurt instead of mayonnaise for tuna salad Like that. Adding protein or green
meals and swapping for like higher calorie. Or having things over green instead of healthier high fiber
carbs. Doing standard noodles or chicken noodle or spaghetti squash or things like that. Taking
something like a burger and turning it into a healthy burger bowl over arugula. High volume. So an
example of this would be like having mostly white and then adding an egg. So you're getting a little bit of
that help, but it's going to lower the calories and bring the protein up and give you more volume or less
calories, high volume so that you're full, but you're not getting as much calorie dense food. And then
looking at venues in advance, this is such a long way. So many people will freak out, oh gosh, I have to
go out for this. Like family, man or family wanted to stop this fast food place. Most places now have the
option for you to do a smaller amount. They'll make it okay. So looking in advance, checking out what's
the healthiest option at this place? It's so easy to do a little bit of research and to prepare yourself so that
you go into it. Okay. And I have a bonus one for you guys as we read on here. So bonus behavior.
Women who stay lean year round do what they say they're going to do. This is so huge. Okay. All the
recipes work out. Plans and information in the world does not mean it don't follow through and not
actually apply to your day to day life. You almost have an access to information now and then. There's
like no followers. There's no accountability. Okay. So actually staying accountable with yourself to do
the things that you set out to do, actually follow through with your resolution, with your goals, with your
timeframe that you set for yourself. I want to lose in the next three months. Okay. Are you actually
staying on plan to make that a reality? Sustainable self to a community approach to actually do the thing
that is so, so. Um, and then really just reflecting on which of these you're struggling with the most and
why I was standing in your way, is it a lack of truly. Is it overwhelming? Is it laughter? Is it not knowing
how to fit all this into your life schedule? Is it always falling off the wagon? Busy like follow through
mental blocks? Having someone to talk to you about this is you cannot move to a better place until we
identify what mental glossary your way, why you're not following through, where you need to be able to
pull all of that. So this is where having a coach is invaluable. You can find so much information online,
but you can't talk to a real human who has experience for hundreds of people because that's not the same
thing as ChatGPT, right? So if you are interested in talking with me, having a console about where you're
feeling stuff, make sure that you click the link in the show notes for the application process. Answer a
few questions. Cool chat coaching makes sense for you where you're feeling stuck and move forward.
Actually having a plan for success and having two really to get you there. Because best plan in the world
is not really that important if you don't actually do it and don't actually follow through that kind of mean,
right? You need to have the tools to support and the true accountability for someone else other than
yourself to do it. So I hope that this has been a helpful episode. I thought this was a really fun topic to
talk through. Um, and if you guys have questions, shoot me a message at the underscore for Heidi. And
also grab the protein freebie there by giving us the word protein. Um, if you're interested in coaching, we
are probably going to get pretty busy here. Heading into Black Friday New Year's. So make sure you
apply sooner than later. And I'm still running a little promo for podcast listeners, so if you apply coming
from the show, let me know and you'll get offers. All right, you guys, thanks for tuning in. I hope it's
been a helpful episode for you and I will talk to you. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Super
Hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health
and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily
posts at Pony Tail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to
date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at
Pony Tail on a trail of happy and healthy trails.