Episode 108: How a Gratitude Mindset Can Transform Your Health and Fitness

In this episode of Fit Fueled and Busy, host Janine discusses the importance of developing a mindset of gratitude around health and fitness. She shares practical tips to shift focus from self-criticism to appreciation, such as starting the day with body gratitude, celebrating bodily capabilities, and reframing 'I have to' as 'I get to.' Janine also emphasizes the value of maintaining a wins journal, avoiding comparisons with others, and practicing gratitude post-workout. This mindset of gratitude can enhance consistency and enjoyment in one's health and fitness journey, extending positivity to other areas of life as well.

00:00 Introduction to Fit Fueled and Busy

00:21 Podcast Cadence Reminder

00:43 The Power of Gratitude in Health and Fitness

01:42 Tip 1: Start Each Day with Body Gratitude

02:35 Tip 2: Celebrate What Your Body Can Do

03:08 Tip 3: Reframe 'I Have To' into 'I Get To'

03:55 Tip 4: Create a Bare Minimum Gratitude Plan

04:50 Tip 5: Appreciate One Meal a Day

05:24 Tip 6: Keep a Wins Journal

06:59 Tip 7: Stop Comparing Your Journey to Others

07:48 Tip 8: Practice Post-Workout Gratitude

08:32 Tip 9: Notice How Good Healthy Choices Make You Feel

09:28 Tip 10: End Your Day Thanking Your Body

09:46 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it.

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Transcript

0:23

Welcome back to Fit Fueled and Busy, the podcast for ambitious women, juggling careers, families, and full lives, while still wanting to show up as the healthiest version of themselves. I'm your host, Janine, and today we're diving into a powerful mindset topic that's especially fitting for this time of year. How to develop a true mindset of gratitude around health and fitness. Before we dive in, I just wanna give you a quick reminder of our podcast cadence. The first Wednesday of every month, we're dropping an episode that is nutrition focused. The second Wednesday is all around fitness. The third Wednesday is all about mindset, and our fourth Wednesday of every month is our unfiltered episode where we talk about pretty much anything and everything. So focusing back to today's mindset episode, we are talking all about gratitude. And this isn't the fluffy kind of gratitude. This is the kind that changes the way you treat your body, the way you show up for your goals and the way you talk to yourself. Most of us. Are really good at noticing what's not working, what we didn't do, what we wish looked different, where we think we fell short. But when we practice gratitude, it shifts our focus from what's wrong to what's possible. And honestly, when you're grateful for your body, when you respect what it can do. When you appreciate the opportunity to take care of yourself, consistency becomes so much easier. It becomes something that you want to do. So today we're gonna talk about 10 practical tips to build a gratitude mindset for your health and fitness. So the first tip is to start each day with body gratitude. So when you wake up, before you jump into the chaos of the day, take a moment to thank your body. Something simple like, I'm grateful my body lets me move today, or I'm thankful for the chance to fuel myself well. I'm not saying you have to say it out loud or share it with somebody. Maybe it's helpful for you to do that, but just take a moment and just pause and think about that. Think about yourself. Think about what you're grateful for when it comes to your body before you even get started in your day. This shifts your mindset away from the self-criticism and into appreciation. If you start your day that way, you'll have. Significantly less negative thoughts about yourself, about your body throughout the day. I promise. Start it with a moment of gratitude. Tip number two, celebrate what your body can do. Try focusing on capability instead of appearance. This is so powerful. Did you lift a little heavier today? Maybe you walked a little farther. Maybe you kept a promise to yourself. That's gratitude in motion. Recognizing what your body can do builds self-respect, and that's what keeps you consistent. Focusing on capability instead of appearance. Such a powerful statement. Tip number three, reframe from, I have to into, I get to this one is huge. I remind myself of this often. You don't have to work out. You get to move your body. You don't have to track your food. You get to fuel yourself intentionally. For so many people around the world, movement and food choices aren't options. The fact that we have choices is something to be deeply grateful for. I practice this when I'm getting up. My alarm's going off at four 30 or 5:00 AM and I'm tired and I really just don't wanna get up. And I remind myself that no, I am so blessed to have the opportunity to get up and to move my body. Tip number four, create a bare minimum gratitude plan. Life is busy. We all know that. We all feel that. So instead of beating yourself up on days when you can't do it all, be grateful for the small things you can do. So that may look like a 10 minute walk, drinking water, hitting your protein at one meal, just a bare minimum. Gratitude plan means, okay, these are the things I'm gonna do at a bare minimum today. Then be proud of yourself when you accomplish those. At the end of the day, gratitude grows when you acknowledge effort, not perfection. Also, focusing in on gratitude and being grateful for the opportunity to be able to fuel our bodies well and move our bodies helps take away that perfection mindset where we have to execute every single day perfectly, and that is so not true. Tip number five, choose one meal a day to pause and appreciate. So before you eat, pause for just a few seconds and think I'm grateful to have food that fuels me. I am grateful to have the opportunity to choose to eat this meal. This builds mindfulness and reduces the all or nothing spiral where. You think I have to execute every single meal perfectly, and if I don't, then forget it. I'll just eat whatever I want the rest of the day and pick up my nutrition tomorrow. Tip number six, keep a wins journal instead of a critique journal, right? So I love this. You don't actually have to have a journal. Some people like to do that. You can do this in your notes, in your phone. Instead of tracking every little mistake, start writing down what went well. I mean, we are just so hard on ourselves all the time, and it's so silly because we are juggling so much. It's amazing what we can do. We are powerful women that take care of our families, that are pursuing a career, that are pursuing our health and fitness, that are building relationships with family and friends. We're juggling a lot and. When we put this pressure on ourselves of needing to be perfect or execute extremely well in all of those areas, it's so easy for us to critique ourselves and what we could have done a little bit better and what we should have done. Instead of doing that, instead of spending our time critiquing ourselves, let's focus on the wins that we had for the day. Focus on that, you know? Yeah. I didn't execute my nutrition perfectly, but you know what I did do? I did get my steps in and I did get a workout in, and I did have a really healthy, nutritious breakfast. Focus on the wins instead of critiquing yourself. Some other wins might be you didn't skip your workout despite how busy the day was, Again, gratitude helps get rid of the all or nothing mindset. Gratitude gets stronger when you reinforce success instead of focusing on slip-ups. Tip number seven, stop comparing your journey to others. Oh my gosh. This one could not be more true. And I'm gonna say it one more time because it is so powerful. Stop comparing your journey to others. Comparison is the enemy of gratitude. Your story is yours, and how beautiful is that? How boring would this world be if we all looked the exact same, if our story all worked out the exact same? Your growth is yours. Your timeline is yours. Try reminding yourself, I'm grateful for my path, even if it looks different from hers, because there is beauty in every single one of us, and there is beauty in the path that we all get to take and we get to choose that, and it is so beautiful. Tip number eight, practice post-workout gratitude. After your workout or your walk, ask, what am I grateful my body allowed me to do today? This reinforces the habit emotionally, not just physically. I went for a seven mile run today. That's a huge step for me and. I did find myself afterwards as I was walking back and cooling down how grateful I was that I got to do that, and that it felt so good and that my body felt good and strong through that. So just practice being grateful and telling yourself that, right? Like having those thoughts. Give yourself space to finish your workout and give yourself just 30 seconds to think of something that you're grateful for about being able to move your body. Tip number nine, notice how good healthy choices make you feel. Pay attention when you make a good, healthy choice, like whether you're moving your body, going on a long walk or you're picking a good, healthy, nutritious meal. Pay attention. I bet you'll find that your mood is better. That you sleep better, that you have more energy, and you have a more clear mind. When you notice these things, it becomes easier to stay consistent because gratitude reminds you that health doesn't just look good. It feels good, and this is something that might also be helpful for your journal, right? Or your notes that you're keeping track of the positive wins that you have. I would encourage you to. Write this stuff down as well, man, I executed my nutrition perfectly today and I had so much more energy in the afternoon. I wasn't reaching for a soda or reaching for some additional caffeine. Write those wind down. And tip number 10, end your day thanking your body before bed. Take 10 seconds to say or just think to yourself, thank you body for getting me through this day. This creates a compassionate, grateful foundation instead of ending the day in frustration or guilt. And I know some of these may seem odd or feel, feel silly, but even if you just pick a few of these and start incorporating them into your day. I really do think that you're gonna find, such a mindset shift in this. Instead of needing to be perfect and execute everything perfectly, you're going to start enjoying your journey, your health and fitness journey more, and this mindset of gratitude. The thing that's so beautiful about it, when we start really practicing it is it will automatically just flow into all other areas of our life, right? Be more grateful that we have this career and that we have the opportunity to build and grow in our career. We'll be grateful for our family and that we get to spend time with them and run and laugh and play with them, or maybe the relationships and friendships that we have. We'll be thankful for the time that we get with them, thankful that we get to have this new experience with them, or that we get to just sit on the couch and relax with them. All of those things. So just remember, building gratitude around your health and fitness isn't about ignoring challenges or pretending everything is perfect. It's about choosing to see your body as something worth caring for, not something to fight against. It's about choosing to embrace every step of your journey. And remember, that's the beautiful part of it. It is yours and yours alone. Nobody else's journey looks like yours. Thanks so much for tuning in. If this episode encouraged you today, share it with a friend or screen, chat it and tag me. I love seeing women support each other in this journey. Stay grateful, stay consistent, and stay fueled even when life gets busy.