How to Get Out of a Funk & Get Back on Track

We all have those days—or weeks—when we just don’t feel like ourselves. Whether it’s a heavy life event, shifting hormones, or a vague sense of “blah,” we can slip into a funk that throws everything off track—our eating, movement, mindset, and self-care.

In this episode, I’m breaking down what it really means to be in a funk (hint: it’s any time you're not feeling like you), and more importantly, how to pull yourself out of it with compassion and clarity. I share the exact five steps I use in my own life to get back to feeling like me, starting with identifying the sneaky thoughts and emotions that quietly take over.

You’ll learn:

• Why finding the feeling comes before changing the thought
• How to stop letting guilt or shame steal your rest and joy
• Why movement is one of the most powerful tools to shift your energy
• The mindset trick I use when I can’t quite believe a better thought (yet)
• How to still care for yourself when you don’t want to get out of a funk just yet

Whether you’re deep in a funk or just feeling a little off, this episode will give you the tools to reconnect with yourself and move forward—gently and powerfully.

Find me on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/@modernbodymodernlife

Enrollment is NOW OPEN for my August Modern Body Modern Life Group Program.  Find all the details and save your spot here: https://mailchi.mp/bc2963159260/augustgroup

Transcript

Unknown: 0:06

Foreign Welcome to Modern body, modern life. The podcast for women who want to lose weight permanently feel in control around food and learn how to stop obsessing about their body and food a modern way of thinking about your weight, your body and your life includes mindset. I'm body and life coach, Courtney Gray, and each week I'm going to teach you the mindset tools that are necessary for changing the way you eat forever. We will uncover why you're eating when you said you were going to stop, what to do when you're really craving something, and how important it is to decide what you want to believe is possible for you, I believe we can get in the best shape of our lives at any age, a modern body, a modern life, all starts in your mind, and when you learn how to manage that, losing weight permanently becomes so much easier. Welcome to the podcast episode 87 how to get out of a funk and get back on track. This is going to be a great episode today. First, I want to tell you I'm really excited that I have launched my YouTube channel so modern body, modern life. Courtney Gray is on YouTube. If this is something I've been wanting to do for a while, this is something I've been working on for a while. My intention was to have this done by the end of last year, but when I started diving into YouTube, I really realized that I wanted to take more time to really do it right. And I'm so glad I did, because I'm really proud of the YouTube channel. There's already four videos there for you, and I'm going to be adding videos every week. And the whole reason for doing YouTube, besides just the whole business, you know, thoughts on business and how to build a business, is because this podcast is very successful. I have a lot of women that are lifts listening and loving this podcast and learning and using what they're learning from this podcast, which is amazing. And then I the other platform that I'm on consistently is is Instagram. And although I do love Instagram, I am constantly fighting up against this. How do I say something mean of meaningful in under 90 seconds, or however many seconds they give you to make a reel? And I feel like I don't love rushing and saying things fast and just it feels very like I just want to teach more. I want people to really understand, and it's hard for me to say something powerful that's not gimmicky and not just annoying in under 90 seconds. And so I thought YouTube really is the perfect blending between Instagram and between this podcast. So I'm not just taking this podcast and throwing up a video of me recording this podcast on YouTube. That's not at all what this is. I am creating videos for YouTube. They're usually going to be around 10 to 15 minutes long, and they really are teaching videos. If you've been to any of my workshops or master classes or trainings. They are like almost a mini training or a mini master class, something that you can watch while you're on your lunch break or while you're waiting for something, but something that you can watch with enough time to actually digest it and understand it. And I'm really excited about it, so I'm going to be putting some clips on Instagram, just to kind of entice you to go over there. I would love for you to go over there to subscribe and like my videos. That would mean so much to me. So enjoy modern body, modern life on YouTube, you know what? And I'll also, I'll put the link in the show notes, just in case you'd like to to have an easy access to it. Also, month of July, I'm getting ready for my next launch of my foundational program, modern body, modern life. We are going to be starting in August, mid August. So I am, you know, I'm always redoing. I'm always up leveling, not only myself and my life, but I'm always up leveling my coaching, my programs, my workbooks, my materials, and so I'm really excited to be going through all of my videos, and how can I make them better? How can I make this more understandable? How can I make this simpler? And I'm also redoing the workbook, and I'm just really, really excited for this group. This program is for women who want to lose between 10 and 15 pounds by learning how to be in control of their eating and their body and their life. And always, this is so much more than weight loss. This is about you understanding why you eat in the first place and really fixing that. It's you living a bigger life. You loving the life and the health and the body you're in to a higher level. And this all takes mindset. So that is what this three month group is going to be about. So you'll hear, stay tuned. You'll hear more about that, but that's what I'm doing. The month of July is really making that even better. So let's dive into the podcast, how to get out of a funk and get back on track. And first of all, let me define what I say is a funk. To me, a funk is anytime you're not feeling like you you. And this can be a lot of different reasons. I mean, sometimes we have things happen in our life that are sad. We have people that pass away. We have we have diagnosis is we have animals that pass away. We have just sad things that happen in our lives, and we can kind of get in a funk for those reasons. And then sometimes, I don't know about you, but sometimes I just wake up and I don't know if it's hormones or sometimes I don't even know what is happening, but I don't feel like myself. I really feel like the only thing I can say is I like, literally woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I just don't feel like myself. And so how do you get out of that and get back on track? And a funk can also just be from your mindset. A funk can also be that you've got things going on in your life and you have thoughts that are making you feel emotions you don't want to be feeling, and then that is creating this funk of you not living the way you want to. So I guess that's how I should really close out what a funk is. It's really you not feeling the way you want to feel, and then you're not living the way you want to which is means you're not eating the way you want to eat, you're not thinking the way you want to think. You're not moving the way you want to move. You're not taking care of yourself and your health, and you're really, oftentimes more present, focused and less future focused, which is never a place we want to be for very long, but this is a place we all get to multiple times. Throughout the year, we are going to get into a funk. So what I want to help you do is know how to get out of it faster. And I'm gonna really talk about how I get out of a funk faster and get back on track. I'm going to give you five of the ways that I do in my own life, get out of a funk and get back on track faster. Number one, the first thing I do is identify the thoughts and feelings that are creating my funk. So ask yourself, what is happening, and that sounds so silly. I mean, if you have something catastrophically happening, if you just had an animal pass away, we know what's happening, right, but you do have thoughts that are making you feel a certain way in that moment. At some point, maybe you can turn those thoughts around and feel differently, but identifying the thoughts and feelings that are creating your funk is so important. When you can identify the feelings, it's easier to figure out what the thoughts that are creating them, and this is how I do it. And so the first thing if I'm not feeling right, I will say to myself, What am I feeling right now? Because sometimes it's hard to go directly to the thought. So I think, what am I feeling right now? Am I feeling discouraged? Am I feeling just blah? Am I feeling guilt? Am I feeling unmotivated, like what is happening? And really try to identify the feeling in my body is what I do. And then I say, Okay, this is the way I'm feeling. And then, what are the thoughts that are making me feel this way? I do this a lot. When I get bored, I have the luxury of being bored sometimes, and so I will say, I'm not feeling right. What is it? I'm feeling okay. I'm feeling bored. Okay. Why am I feeling bored? What's happening? And I just say, usually, the thought for me is I don't know what to do, or I don't know what I should be doing, or I don't know what's best, or what really ends up happening for me is I want to relax because I've done a lot of work, but I'm not allowing myself. So that's boredom. But then underneath the boredom, there's like a level of guilt or shame that I'm not allowing myself to just watch Outlander and drink some tea. For God's sakes, it's really important for me to say, oh, here we go again. Courtney, you're feeling bored. Okay, I'm feeling bored because I'm telling myself, I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do. And then when I go underneath the boredom, what is really going on with me, I'm feeling a bit of like, shame on you. You shouldn't be watching TV. If you could be washing the windows, you could be going to visit your parents, you could be doing all these things. And so that from that point, my friend, from that point, I can say, oh, okay, do I want to believe that's true, that I should be doing all these other things? Do I want to believe it's true that I don't believe I deserve a break. No, I don't want to believe that's true. And then I can say, How is it possible that I've done enough and I deserve a break? And then if I can start thinking about all of that, I can get myself out of shame, and then I can get myself out of boredom, because then I say, I'm not bored, I'm actually enjoying myself. I'm gonna sit here and watch Outlander. I'm not bored. I'm intentionally taking some downtime to watch TV, or I'm intentionally taking some downtime to lay out and read a book. And so from that space, I'm not bored anymore. I've just dropped the shame. I've just dropped the story that I don't deserve to be relaxing, that I haven't done enough. And so the first thing I do, number one, is identify the thoughts and feelings that are creating my funk. You get so much awareness in this moment, and when you get more awareness in this moment, that is what is going to stop you from eating or drinking more than you want to. Or just doing other things that are not really what you want to do with your life. So again, when you identify the feeling first, oftentimes it's easier to figure out what thoughts are creating, the feelings and I love just asking myself, is there another way to think about what's happening? It's at the end of a long day I've done all this stuff. I'm feeling a little bored. Why am I feeling bored? Oh, I'm telling myself I don't know what to do. And then it's like, wait. I'm also telling myself I shouldn't be doing this. Hmm, that shame. Do I really want to feel that way? Do I really want to think this way? And from that space, we can get ourselves out of a funk. We can get ourselves to actually watch some TV and enjoy ourselves. Or we can get ourselves to maybe have a brownie and have it just be about a brownie. Or we can get ourselves to not work out for a day and take a rest day without feeling shame. Now I will caution you that when you find the feeling and the thought that is creating it, and you decide to think something new. It's not necessarily always like a snap over like a Oh, I just need to think differently. Oh, thank god. I'm all I'm good, I'm good. You have to sometimes sit there and you have to actually practice that thought and really try to sell yourself on that thought. And here's one last little piece of advice when it comes to identifying thoughts and feelings, when you identify a better thought that is going to make you feel a certain way, if you actually believed it, what you can say to yourself is okay. I'd like to believe I just did this the other night. I'd like to believe that I have done enough work today, and I deserve to sit on the couch and just relax, or i i believe that i have done enough, and I'm worthy enough that I can take a day off and I don't have to record a podcast, I don't have to check in with clients. I can do just relax and enjoy my life. But we don't necessarily click over into feeling that way right away. It's not like, Oh, I totally believe that, but sometimes what you can do is you can say, if I actually believed that, what would I do? So the other day, when I did this, I thought I have done enough. I'm doing a great job at life. I'm proud of how I'm showing up. I know that originally I thought I was a little bit bored, but then I identified that I'm feeling a little shame, because I'm telling myself I shouldn't be relaxing, but I've decided that I deserve to relax. There's nothing wrong with taking a day. And even though I didn't have that click over, I decided, what would I do if I believed that, if I believed that I would take the day, if I believed that I would watch some TV and then I'd go swimming, and then I'd read my book, and I would keep reminding myself all day. And so that's what I did. So sometimes, if it's hard when you when you identify like, is there another way to think about this? And it's hard to necessarily believe that new way of thinking of it, you can say, what would I do if I did believe this and do that thing. It's very similar with confidence. You can say to yourself, if I was confident, what would I do? And then you'd say, if I was confident, I would post something on Instagram. If I was confident, I would go up and volunteer for this or that. In order to get more confident, you do those things, and that will build the confidence and by doing the other day, when I did this over the weekend, when I allowed myself to take the day, when I allowed myself to swim and just luxuriously read my book and do all these things, and as I went throughout my day, I believed it more and more and more, yes, this is what I need to be doing. This is what my soul needs right now, I am very much really feeling the recuperating effects of taking some time. So that's number one, is identifying the thoughts and feelings that are creating your funk. And I would suggest finding the feeling first, what thought is creating that feeling, and what would you like to think instead? Right? Is there another way to think about this, and if you did really think that way, believe that way, what would you do? And sometimes you do that, and it helps you believe that way. Now let me say this about identifying thoughts and feelings that are creating your funk. Sometimes we don't want to get out of a funk. Sometimes you're going to find as you go throughout your life when something especially when something sad happens, or you feel really just heartbroken. Sometimes we don't want to get out of a funk. Sometimes you've even felt this way right where you're like, you know what, I'm sad and discouraged and I don't even want to get out of it. What I say in that moment is just allow yourself to have some time. So usually when we are sad or really struggling, it's not just because we're having a thought that's not serving us. It's not just because we got out of the off on the wrong side of the bed. Usually that's something that is heavier in our life. It's we are really struggling with one of our kids, or maybe we just found out some news that's one of our friends, something devastating had. Happened to them, and you are just you feel like the wind has been taken out of you, or maybe something Financial has happened that just feels really big, and it's again taken the wind out of you. Or maybe you've had a death in the family or of an animal. In those moments, we can say, Wow, we are in a funk, but we don't necessarily want to reframe this right now, and that's okay, too. And so in that moment, you're going to want to skip to number five. I'm going to talk about really being intentional about your self care. But my hope is that when you really are and I'll talk about five when I get to it, of course, but when you really are intentional about your self care, and you you can acknowledge I'm in a funk, and here's why I'm really, really devastated because this or that happened, and you really take care of yourself, that will get you back on track faster. But sometimes we don't want to immediately get out of it, and that's okay, and you can still create an amazing body and life without having to so quickly get out of it. So number two, move your body. This was almost number one for me, but I always have to start with mindset. But I am telling you, there is just so much power in moving your body. Do not wait for motivation, even if it is just a little bit of movement, movement, even if it's stretching, even if it's a little bit of a walk, even if it's a little bit of five minutes of yoga, even if it's a little bit of breath work, even though, usually with breath work, you're kind of laying there. But breathing is movement. When we move our body, physiologically, it shifts our energy, and it can really shift our mindset and get us out of a funk. The other day, I was in a little bit of a funk. I feel like I'm in funks at least two to three times a week. I mean, I think being in a little bit of a funk, not a sad, devastating funk, but a kind of I don't feel like doing this, or, Oh, I'm not feeling great, or I didn't sleep that great, probably three times a week for me. So that's why this is such an important podcast. But when I can get myself to move my body, it gets me. It is the fastest thing that will get me out of a funk. And sometimes I will will even forego doing any thought work, because I think you know what, I don't know what's going on with me, but I know if I go for a walk, it'll probably end up turning into a run, and I am going to be so much better for it. I'm going to be feeling better. I'm going to be feeling proud. I am just going to be so glad I did it right. Have you ever gotten exercise and thought I wish I hadn't done that? No. Have you ever done any of the really good things for your soul. And thought, I wish I hadn't done that. Have you ever meditated or prayed or done something like that? And think, Ugh, that was a waste of time. I do think some people think that about meditation, but that's because they think they're doing meditation wrong. You're not doing meditation wrong. To me, even trying to meditate means you're doing it right. Even taking that stillness and that moment to do it is worthy of your time, and it is doing it right. And so moving your body is such a great place to start. If I can't get out for a run, I will, at the very least say to myself, I'm going to walk around the block, or I'm going to get in the pool and just move around always makes you feel better. And I should say that when doing the research for this podcast, there are so many studies that support this, that when you exercise regularly, it changes your brain chemistry. It changes it. It increases your endorphins, it increases dopamine, increases serotonin, it improves sleep, it reduces inflammation, it boosts your mood, and it has many of the effects that so many people are turning to medication for. So the research is out there that we know moving our body is such a great way to get out of a funk. Okay? Number three, asking yourself, What can I do that I will be proud of at the end of the day. This is something I love. Asking myself, if I'm feeling sleep deprived or not feeling good, or headachy or in a funk, and I will say to myself, Okay, Courtney, what can I do that? I will be really glad I did at the end of the day. Have you ever tried this? I've talked about it on the podcast a few times. Have you ever really tried that at the end of the day? Sometimes I'll do it at the end of the week. I did this this morning. Actually. I thought to myself, Okay, Courtney, by the end of the week, because I have a shorter week today, because I'm going on vacation this weekend. What are you going to be most proud of if you did? It really clarifies what is the most important so when you ask yourself, What can I do that I will be proud of at the end of the day or at the end of the week? It really takes away all the fluff. It takes away all the stuff. Stuff that we are saying yes to that really isn't moving the needle in our life, whether it's moving the needle with your health or with your relationships or with your organization or with your goals. So what can you do? So often we when we're in a funk, especially we're in a funk, and there's reasons we're in a funk, and we're telling ourselves we can't do this. We can't do that, you know. And so what can you do if you're injured? What can you do if you have a headache? What can you do if you're really sad? What can you do? It's such a great question to ask yourself and go to either at the end of the day if you're really struggling, or if it's just a little bit of a at the end of the week, at the end of the week, or at the end of the day, I will be so proud if I at least did this. And then you're going to find that feeling proud is one of the things that helps you get out of a funk. And then on top of that, you're going to prove to yourself that even when you're in a funk, you can still stay on track to some degree. So what I used to do is, when I was in a funk, it would almost be like shit hit the fan, like I would just kind of give up all the things. It would be like I'm not feeling good, or I'm injured, or I have this happening, we've got company, or whatever, so it's almost like I can't do anything I really want to do. And it's such a limiting belief to give up all of ourselves. And usually, what we're giving up, you know, usually all the things we're giving up is our own goals. It's what we're eating and how we're moving. Those are like the first two things to go whenever we are in any kind of funk or crisis or different situation happening in our lives, right? We still feed our kids, we still pay our bills, we still show up for our clients, we do all that, but we give up our own movement, and what we put in our mouth is drastically affected, and I don't want it to be that way for you. What can I do that I will be proud of at the end of the day? Okay? Number four, this one I got from my mom. My mom taught me from a very young age, if you are not happy, if you are in a funk, if you are struggling, serve others. How can you start thinking about others and take your mind away from your own struggle? Whatever our struggles are, there are other people in our lives that have it worse, that need our support, and that is such a great thing to do if you are struggling in any way. How can I support someone else? Can I make food for someone else? Can I call and check on someone else? Can I pray for someone else or think of them or just send them a message? There was a girl in town who lost her husband a few months ago, and we're not very, very close. And of course I met there was hundreds of Facebook comments, and of course I said, Oh, my God, I'm thinking about you. I'm so sorry. But it was about a month after, and I was just thinking about her, and I just reached out to her, and I sent her a message, and I just a private message, and I said, Hey, I just want you to know you have been on my mind and in my thoughts and in my prayers so much knowing that maybe she wouldn't even message me back, but like in that moment, it's like I am going to take any kind of thoughts about what's going on in my own life and just support her in that moment, because I know she would do the same for me if I was in the same situation. So serving others, thinking about others. How can we help other people? How can we love on other people? Such a great way to get out of a funk. And number five, be intentional about your self care. I think we all now know that self care is not girls night outs. Although a Girls Night Out is amazing, it can be healing for the soul, for sure, but like when I think of self care, the reason I don't think girls night out is necessarily the definition of self care is a lot of times for a lot of people, Girls Night Out is like cocktails and late nights and and sometimes those are helping us, maybe in the moment, but not necessarily for our future. But there, there still is a lot of amazing things that happened with a girl's night out. But when we think of self care, I think we know it's not taking baths, it's not wild nights out, it's not painting our nails, it or even getting a massage. I think that self care, to me, is taking time to check in with me and taking time to treat myself like I treat my children. How are you? What do you need from me? What's going on with you right now? You are so wonderful and so loved. Do you know that right having that kind of conversation with us, it's a beautiful time to journal. It's a beautiful time to meditate or pray or connect with your future self or your god or your universal energy, or whoever is your Creator. Self Care, I think the most beautiful form of self care is really checking in with yourself and checking in with your mindset. And your emotions and holding space. And when I say holding space, that's a very coach term type of thing to say. And what I mean by that is it's really taking care of you and allowing all of it. And it kind of goes back to number one. It's noticing what am I feeling. I mean, that's the ultimate of self care. What am I feeling and why it's like I'm devastated because this thing happened? Oh, of course, you're devastated. Let's take care of ourselves. Or I'm really frustrated. Why? It's because I have a thought that's not serving me. Is there another way I can think differently about this? If I did think differently, what would I do? Can I do that? Can I get some movement? How can I take care of myself? To me, that is self care. It's really not only taking care of yourself in the moment, but it's taking care of you in the future as well. So we are all going to get in funks. Like I said, I probably get in funk like three times a week, and they don't last very long, because I have this beautiful protocol of what I do for myself, right? Sometimes I immediately go to movement, sometimes I immediately go to journaling. Sometimes I immediately go to what am I thinking? What am I feeling? Or actually the opposite, what am I feeling, and then what am I thinking and what is really going on with me, and how can I support myself? And I will tell you, especially with the movement thing, because I think the movement one is so important. Let me just tell you you're not going to feel like moving. So don't think that when you are in a funk. You're going to go, I'm in a funk, you know what? I'm going to go for a run. You're not going to want to do it, especially if going for a run or going for a walk. It doesn't even matter what kind of movement it is, it's sometimes it can be hard on an average day that you're not in a funk, but I'm telling you, if you can get yourself, bare minimum, to go for a walk, get outside in nature, then it will have a massive impact on your funk. And can it be okay that you kind of don't want to sometimes I'll even say to myself, I do not want to go to the gym, I do not want to go for a walk, but I'm going to go because I know it's going to make me feel better, and then it will make me feel better, and then I have created evidence that I am really good at understanding how to take care of myself and understanding how to get out of a funk. And here's what you will do, girl, is the next time you are in a funk, you're going to be like, I know what to do. I know what to do for myself, because I've done it many times, and I know what hasn't worked in the past. What hasn't worked in the past is, you know, kind of not doing all the things I wanted to do, and eating all the things, and laying and doing, you know, and just kind of scratching my day and feeling sorry for myself, because that oftentimes leads to a few days of that, and then you're being inconsistent, and you're not going to be living the life you want to live. So I hope you will use these five tools to help yourself get out of a funk and get back on track. It's one of the most profound results I create for women in my program, they tell me, I still got off track, but now I get on track so much faster, and I'm like, yep, you will always get off track. You are always going to eat two brownies when you promised. You said you'd eat one. You're always going to sleep in when you said you'd wake up. You're always going to skip the gym when you said you go to the gym for the rest of our lives. We are going to get in a funk. We are going to not follow through. But if you can get back on track faster, that is when you will see massive results in your life. I hope you have a great tuesday if you are ready to lose weight and keep it off permanently and feel confident and at peace around food, I invite you to head to Courtney Gray coaching.com to learn about how to work with me. I work with women privately, one on one, and I also offer small group coaching. There is a link to my website in the show notes you.