Today's Actions, Tomorrow's Health: The Power of Your Future Self

As anyone who struggles with weight management knows, it takes a lot more than waking up one day and deciding “it’s time to get healthy”. Our health is shaped by the countless small decisions we make each and every day and when we don’t see instant results, it can feel hard. But one of the key things that keeps me going? My love for my future self.

When you think of yourself in five years, what do you see? Do you see yourself still consumed by food, weight, and stress, missing out on life's joyful moments? Do you imagine a future filled with body hatred and isolation? My guess is this is not what it looks like when you are envisioning your future. Or at the very least, this is not what you want to see yourself like in the future.

But when you embody the future version of yourself who lives differently than you do today, you have such an opportunity to shape your reality. Join me today as we delve into the concept of your "future self" and discover how it can empower us to follow through on the actions that move us closer toward our goals.

Audio Stamps

00:40 - Dr. Rentea shares a key lesson from a recent business coaching call she was part of.

02:15 - Dr. Rentea explains the concept of your “future self”

04:30 - We hear how Dr. Rentea's vision of a healthier future self fuels her commitment to prioritize her health, even during challenging times.

07:00 - Dr. Rentea explains how the "bright spots theory" can help us tackle challenges by identifying other areas of our life which feel more effortless and energizing.

12:15 - Dr. Rentea encourages us to think about what is needed from us today to help us get the future self that we want. 

Quotes

“I have to constantly think about: ‘Who is it that I want to be? What do I want to become?’ And those things keep me going.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“If I want this future self to be in a better spot physically, it is going to require an element of consistency from me and having a plan and sticking to it.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“What are you in this moment going to follow through on and do, even if it's not the most appealing thing, even if you don't love it, even if it's not super exciting?” - Matthea Rentea MD

“You don't end up there overnight.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“You are often probably going to have to do things that you don't feel like doing.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“Future me - I love her enough and I want things badly enough for her that I'm going to do these things.” - Matthea Rentea MD

All of the information on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. Please talk to your physician and medical team about what is right for you. No medical advice is being on this podcast.

If you live in Indiana or Illinois and want to work with doctor Matthea Rentea, you can find out more on www.RenteaClinic.com

Transcript

0:28

Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today we're in another one of those scenarios where I don't have my normal little microphone, but it's in the morning. It's actually Monday morning. It's right after my walk and I wanted to share something that I heard yesterday and I just thought yeah This is something we all need a reminding of this is something that would be perfect for a Monday morning Something to kind of think about through your week to kind of help you as you're working on things So yesterday I was listening to a business coaching call. A lot of people were getting coached about, and by the way, you're going to see the same things that apply here in business apply in health. It's really all the same things and people, a lot of new entrepreneurs were getting coached on that. They just really don't feel like doing the thing when they say they're going to do it. And then let me give an example. This person Would have they have a full time job, but they're trying to build like let's say a side gig, right? Like they're trying to build up the other business and then make that full time But there's you know how there's a ramp up if you're trying to do something else and you're dependent on your current income Boy, do I know this? That's what i've lived the past few years until now My clinic is much more established. But in the beginning, again, I started with zero when I made my clinic, there was not a patient base there. I had a non compete. Like I really, I had to start literally from scratch. So everyone's getting coached about that, about how they'll be at work all day. They'll be tired and exhausted. And then the evening comes and they don't want to do that thing that they said they were going to do. And basically just one thing after another or they're sitting there analyzing Why is it that I don't want to do the work? And you know what the coach said? She said, listen, this is how it's going to be. It's hard. It's new. It's all the things. No one ever wants to do the things and you're going to do it because you love your future self enough. So I want to kind of dig into that a little bit today. If you're not someone that's heard this concept before of your future self, I mean, it's very self explanatory. It's descriptive, the words, but it's this concept of that. You're going to do things today and there's a version of you in the future that's going to benefit. And this is something that I've always really loved, this concept that I'm doing this for more than just me at this moment. I've always thought that the people that get the best results are those that think, I'm doing this for me right now, I'm doing this for me in the future, I'm doing this for my family right now, my family in the future. The more causes you would that you can put toward why you're doing this, that's your why. And I, it really grows roots as far as it being an identity based action and you actually doing this thing in the future. And that is really future work. It's really identifying with I'm doing these things now because that's who I want to be in the future. So you don't just pop out the other side being someone that's a little bit more fit. You don't pop out the other side being someone that just quote unquote effortlessly follows nutrition things. That does not happen. It requires breaking old habits. Breaking old habits, these really entrenched things are actually very hard things to do because they're kind of happening on autopilot almost unconsciously. You're not even aware these things are happening. For you to do these things, it is going to require an amount of overcoming yourself in the moment and this call really made me think about this that in business I want to give you an example because I've now been in some capacity in an entrepreneurial role for about four years now It's always not been hard for me to do all the things that were needed to be done in fact I overworker and that's something that I've had to actually tone down to have better boundaries and to have better limits. And that's, it's been hard on me because I a little bit want to be a people pleaser. I want everyone to get exactly what they want. I love doing the work. I love being out there. I love teaching like all the things kind of unite to creating an overworking situation if I'm not careful. So for me, that's not been the challenge. But what I have noticed is With when it comes to the health side of things, that requires a lot of effort on my part. It's gotten somewhat easier over time, but it's not that it's ever totally effortless for me. It is something where every day I consciously need to make the decision, I'm going to do this walk, I'm going to eat these things, and then I go through periods where I waver and I need to kind of re get back my, my marbles together if you would. And yes, the medications help and things like that, but nothing. Nothing entirely. makes it easy for me. And so I have to constantly think about who is it that I want to be? What do I want to become? And those things keep me going. We've talked a lot about how I don't want my body to hold me back. The, that one moment that I tell you that was so pivotal for me was, Literally not getting into the water in the middle of the lake, thinking, I can't get back onto this pontoon boat. I'm not going to do that to myself. And thinking that is what spurred me really looking at how can I physically make my body more capable. And so that requires, if we're being honest here for a moment, that requires that today, for example, this is a Monday morning. I've never recorded a podcast so early, but that yesterday hearing that call just really had it left an impression on me. It requires that I felt like doing nothing this morning, yet I still got my exercise clothes on. And I, okay, I did have concessions with myself. I'll give you an example. It's cold outside. All right. I'm not gonna walk outside. I'm getting really super sick of the walking pad in my little office. So I am walking around the bottom of this small rental that we have for the time being here until it's over. And I've gotten some walking in. It's not been an hour. It's not been a super long time, but it is something. It is still something. I'm still giving a gift to my future self. That is a gift. The fact that there's that consistency there and that even when I don't feel like doing it, I'm still going to do it. So that is part of that, right? That if I want this future self. To be able to be in a better spot physically, it is gonna require an element from me of consistency and having a plan and sticking to it and actually becoming a new person. Getting to the place where my body actually craves to do the movement. Like it actually feels better to walk around and do those things than to just sit all day. Right. We've talked about that in the past, this was over five, six years ago. I would literally just sit all day. Like there was zero movement. And so looking at what is it that you want to give to your future self? And what are you in this moment then going to follow through on and do, even if it's not the most appealing thing, even if you don't love it, even if it's not super exciting. I want to give an example. Yesterday for lunch, I actually made these beautiful veggies and I made tofu and I had a high protein rice as the base of this bowl. And you know what guys, it just didn't hit right. It just didn't hit. And what I realized is it was okay. So I didn't force myself. I, I tried to be fancy and with the high protein rice, which is already high protein, I tried to make it with the bone broth as the base to up the protein. I'm just laughing because conceptually in your mind you're like, Oh, I'm getting more protein in this whatever. Guess what? It made it, instead of it being great, it made it really mealy almost. It made it disgusting. And so, okay, I had to let the rice be a lost cause. I could, I just could focus on the tofu and the veggies, but it was okay that it wasn't perfect. I still had some cause I still knew what some of my goals were that day. Yes, I wanted the protein from the tofu and that actually tasted good. I don't know if any of you are tofu fans out there. I don't know how many vegetarian listeners we have. I used to never eat tofu and then I actually learned how to make it properly. So I'll make it with. Soy sauce, you know, it depends how long you do it in the oven or an air fryer. And I've actually, it started to have a rotation in the things I have. I have learned though, don't buy more than one block of extra firm. That's my stance. I used to say, Oh, I'm really going to eat this. So I'm going to get two. Nope. It's going to take me a long time to get through that, that one block. So I've learned over time, but, but anyway, so back to the plot is that. You are often probably going to have to do things that you don't feel like doing. And I want you to look, this is called bright spots theory. My coach Amanda Sabacher came into a previous membership of mine and taught this. If you look at the areas where things happen effortlessly, I want you to write down, for example, the thoughts that you have about it. So I want to give you an example with business. Let's go through this exercise. You take an area of your life that is very intuitive to you, very easy. It's happening on autopilot. It actually energizes you. It's a talent of yours. So things that are easy, it usually means that you're talented at it. I'm going to take, for example, I love seeing patients, all those kind of things that don't feel like hard work to me that I absolutely love. And I have thoughts like this, I love doing this, I feel so grateful to be able to do this, I want to share this with them. All the time I'm thinking as I'm learning things, Oh, how can I bring this to my patients? How can I make a workshop out of it? Oh, let me send a message to this patient. I thought about something else. All day long I have these positive thoughts, right? But then when I think about my health goals, I'm not always that positive and I might have doubts, right? I might sit there and say, well, I don't really know if I'm ever going to achieve that goal or I don't know if this is possible for me. I don't think I would ever have that thought about running the clinic or what is possible, but yet I do that with my health. And so just starting to question, interesting, I think this way about something that's working really well, that's easy, that I love, that I'm always willing to figure out. Yet when it comes over here, I have a totally different thought pattern, and those things need to be worked through because your future self cannot accomplish the goal if your current self does not know what the blocks are and starts to be willing to show up and address those things to get you to the next place. I'm hoping that this is landing for everyone to just understand the power of every obstacle, everything that is hard and challenging right now. That's actually necessary to get you to the next step. It's necessary to get you to the next place. And what's interesting here, I really want to, to, to hone in on this. I'm not saying that you need to do hard, crazy things all the time. Remember that that's really the, that's always, that's been the only constant philosophy with, with all these years of me being out here, literally for myself. It's, it's a small walk and a 10 minute strength training a few times a week. I don't think that's asking a lot of myself. I think that's very reasonable. I think that's very realistic. And so realize me doing things even when I don't feel like doing it or this or that, it's not even that I'm asking myself to do absolutely outlandish things. I'm literally asking some bare minimums of myself in an area. That I struggle, in an area that's hard for me, in an area that doesn't come as intuitive, in an area where I really need to work on it. I think one of the reasons why I'm probably out here all the time and so passionate about wanting to help people and do this, it's because I actually struggle with it. It's because it's not super easy for me all the time. And I think I can understand when, when patients come back and they're struggling and they're saying, well I'm doing all this stuff and I say, I know. Alright, so let's try this, let's try that, and I'm learning all these different things all the time because I'm always thinking there's always someone that didn't get the help, and I know I can't help everyone in all scenarios, that's foolish to think, but, but also I do know what the struggle is and how much work it can take to create a different future you. What I want to just throw out here, I'm gonna make this a shorter episode today. I want you to think about today, what is needed? from me today so that I get that future self that I want. What today am I going to have to do that I might not be so excited about or I might not want to do? What is that? So that down the road, I start to live out these things that I really want. You don't end up there overnight. I see a lot of channels. I just want to, I don't know why. There's just certain things that I've been thinking about a lot recently. There's a content creator on Tik TOK that I followed for a long time and she has just blossomed. I mean, she always had a great channel. She was always sharing very authentically, but she has just always owned who she is, what she's about and she's really taken off. And I sat there and A lot of people are, of course, they're jealous of that when they see that with her, but I'm so incredibly happy for her, because I sit there and I think, does, does no one see that she, for two years, was sharing vulnerably and continually putting herself out there? And then I see another account where, and again, I have compassion for this girl as well, where she's been, she, you know, she, she's sort of paralyzed by everything, and she wants to do these things, but Anxiety and depression are getting in the way and she's like, I know that I can do these things, but I get, I get really held up by it. And here's the thing, everyone's experience is valid. So someone that's dealing with anxiety and depression, it's going to look different for what they need in this moment to show up or do. They might need to not do social and to really do some other regulation techniques and other things. And that other girl, her in the moment to help her future self maybe was to show up. So hopefully that analogy heads home, but you need to see it's going to be different in the moment what everyone needs for you to have what you want in the future. Sometimes it actually means taking a step back to take a step forward. Like, okay, we've all heard that one, but it's true. So for me here recently, it's really been realizing I cannot be working every single evening and just all the time and on the weekends, like that's not going to work. And so how can I structure things? So that it is reasonable long term. These are all loving things I'm gonna do in this moment. Even though it doesn't feel easy and it feels hard. These are things I'm gonna do in this moment. So that the future me, I love her enough. And I want things badly enough for her that I'm gonna do these things. So for you today, what do you need to give yourself today? So that you can help out your future self. How are you going to love her the most? What would love look like today to help out that future self? All right, I want to leave it here. I hope that you are all having an awesome, awesome spring leading into summertime. This is always an amazing time of year and I hope that you are all feeling a little bit more uplifted. When the sun's out more, I'm sorry, I feel like everyone's mental health improves. So I hope that you are having a great day, a great week, and we will all talk soon.