Unforked

How to Navigate Excuses and Your Health Goals with Simple Strategies

• Haley Schroth, RDN, LD, CPT, RYT, CMWC

Share episode

💬 Have A Question? Text Haley & Hear It Answered On The Show

Can you feel the constant tug-of-war in your mind between making excuses and maintaining healthy habits?

In this energizing episode, I introduce you to the two parts of your brain that are often battling over decisions about your health goals and their common narratives.

From overwhelming household chores to the challenges of ADHD and depression, we'll chat about how to learn from the excuses that you've been making and turn them into opportunities for growth and learning instead.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will empower you to move past the excuses and champion your health.

🔗 Links & Additional Support


&, Thank you to YOU, the listener, for being here on this journey together.

Haley Schroth, RDN, LD, CPT, RYT, CMWC

Integrative Dietitian Nutritionist for Optimal Mental Health & Physical Performance

Speaker 1:

Have you ever felt like your excuses and your health goals are rock-em-sock-em robots having a never-ending boxing match in your brain? Has this ever happened to you? I know it has happened to me. So on one hand, we have the red robot, who I'm going to call excuse enforcer Edna. So excuse enforcer Edna is on one side of your brain defending your excuses to the death. So Edna's over here and she is telling you exactly why the dishes are still dirty and they're in piles on the counter, practically toppling over Like it's a danger zone. There's so many dishes up there instead of being in the dishwasher where they're out of the way. Edna is telling you all the excuses about why you haven't been strength training in addition to your runs every week, even though you've signed up for that 5k that's just a few months out. Excuse enforcer. Edna is also telling you why you haven't been putting arugula into your meals with your goal of increasing your vegetable intake, even though, one, you love arugula and, two, your nutrigenomic test told you that arugula is one of the healthiest foods for you and what I like to call your best return of ingestion.

Speaker 1:

So we have Edna and she's making all these excuses. She's telling us exactly why you aren't doing the healthy habits that you have set out to do. And the excuses run rampant. She might have three excuses for every one of those things we just talked about. Well, the dishes are still dirty because I have ADHD. Well, the dishes are still dirty because I forgot to unload the clean dishes. Well, the dishes are dirty because no one else lives here. And why does it matter? The dishes are still dirty because I'm busy. And it's one extra step. It's just too hard, right?

Speaker 1:

So, taking that example, on the other hand, we have the blue robot, who we will call healthy habit Hans, and healthy habit Hans is defending your health goals and the positive effects that they have on your life. So we've got excuse enforcer Edna on one side. She's battling it out with healthy habit Hans, just trying to make you see that, oh, it's okay, it's okay that you aren't doing the things that you want to be doing to improve your health and your mental wellness. But now that Healthy Habit Hans is in the boxing ring right, like we've got a chance here. There's a chance, and Healthy Habit Hans is stacked. He is not going to give up on your goals.

Speaker 1:

And so Healthy Habit Hans knows that keeping your kitchen relatively clean, if not clean really is beneficial so that it's organized and actually a pleasant place to cook in, versus your kitchen being a cluttered, overwhelming nightmare with, like, the leaning tower of dishes over there and you can't even find a place to putting cutting board down to like cut your fresh fruits and veggies up right, like. I don't know if you've been there, I've been there. Certainly. Whether you have adhd, depression, whatever it is, there are times where you may have had an extremely cluttered kitchen and, holy shit, it makes it a complete nightmare to actually make progress on those healthy habits, like using the arugula right and fueling up with protein after your strength training for your 5K. So healthy habit Hans is going to tell you, is going to tell you well, having ADHD is not an excuse for not making an effort to keep the kitchen relatively clean. Having depression is not an excuse Like what are the ways that we can work with the ADHD, with the depression, to make it easier for on ourselves so that we aren't constantly fighting this battle and never winning? Right, healthy habit hans is stepping in now and he's gonna he's gonna knock the heck out of excuse enforcer edna, right? He's gonna be like no, I'm so sorry, but these excuses are no longer valid. And it's not that they're not valid. Like, yes, yes, if you have ADHD and you have a hard time keeping your kitchen clean, that's totally valid. Like, that's understandable. Like I said, I've been there If you're depressed and you're having a really hard time making healthy meals or making meals at all, just because you are so fatigued mentally, physically, all of the things. Like, I've been there too.

Speaker 1:

And at some point you have to recognize when your excuse is not doing you any good and it is actually harming you, right. And sometimes you recognize your excuses before they get to the harmful stage. And that's what we ultimately want to be doing is to recognize when we have these excuses. How can we one be aware of them sooner and work through them with that mindful self-compassion, so that we don't get stuck in traps of shame, guilt, blame, whatever it is, and then the cycle starts all over again. You say, fuck it, I'm going to leave these dishes dirty because, oh my gosh, this is just too much for me.

Speaker 1:

So, recognizing where in your life you have been making some excuses that are no longer serving you more than ever have served you right. They may have been acting as a protection mechanism, like what are your excuses protecting you from? Maybe your excuses are protecting you from some sort of trauma. Maybe your excuses are keeping you comfortable. Maybe your excuses are keeping you comfortable because your brain is always looking for comfort. Right, it's not looking to make more effort, it wants to go the path of least resistance, and it's not wrong for your brain to be doing that. That's how your brain is wired.

Speaker 1:

And when we think about the excuse enforcer, edna, I like to think about Edna as your five-year-old brain, your five-year-old brain that is cranky, it wants the easy way out and it doesn't usually understand what is best for you in the long run. And your adult brain is healthy habit Hans, and healthy habit Hans is a bit more evolved. Hans understands that observing these objections from your five-year-old brain is really helpful, and not only the objections but the emotions that come up with the objections and the excuses. So, observing those excuses, observing any objections that come with your excuses, and observing any emotions and physical sensations, somatic responses, that arise when you think about this excuse, or perhaps why you can't in quotes, can't do something, why you think you can't do something. What is the message that your body is holding for you. What is the secret that this logical adult brain has for you? The secret is is that your adult brain knows the excuses are opportunities for growth and learning. When you are able to neutrally observe your thoughts, your emotions and your somatic physical responses, these observations bring opportunities for growth and learning.

Speaker 1:

So if we go back to excuse enforcer Edna, edna is thinking I can't sit down for lunch without also working because, oh my God, I'm so busy and my schedule is packed. And I eat while I work on my laptop because that allows me to be productive and take care of myself at the same time on my laptop, because that allows me to be productive and take care of myself at the same time. And healthy habit Hans comes in and knows that. Hmm, what an interesting perspective. But our digestion can improve significantly when we engage the senses to strengthen the gut-brain connection. And if we take time to see, like, physically see and appreciate our lunch, then we naturally slow down, we chew more thoroughly and we initiate the proper food breakdown for digestion. So multitasking seems efficient, but it actually can lead to bloating and low energy later on in the afternoon.

Speaker 1:

So healthy habit Hans is coming in in this example, saying, hey, what an interesting perspective. Not good, not bad, it just is. This perspective is the perspective that I have and I'm noticing that there's an alternate here. There's an alternate decision that I can make that perhaps is more aligned with my health goals, my values and, I know, will ultimately lead me to a more fulfilling life. So Hans is stepping in with that adult brain, allowing you to pause and reflect and make those deliberate decisions. That is how your adult brain is seeing the excuses and transforming the excuses into opportunities for growth and learning.

Speaker 1:

So I ask you, what is something you have been making an excuse around when it comes to your health, and can you practice being mindful and simply notice when this excuse comes up again or a different excuse comes up and can you notice, without trying to solve or change anything, what the excuse is? This awareness is the absolute first step and the most important step. If you do nothing else, just work on becoming aware of when you make excuses, and not just aware of when you make excuses, but get curious about the sensations in your body, like somatically, physically. Get curious about your emotions that come up, whether it's a somatic response or maybe it's a mental one. Get curious about the thoughts that you're having. Are they really negative? Are they neutral? Are they positive? My guess is, if it's an excuse, you might have some sort of negative thought or reaction attached to that excuse.

Speaker 1:

Taking this one step further, you can think about does the goal attached with your excuse so does this health goal that you're making excuses about make you feel excited, expansive light? Or maybe it makes you feel closed off, small, shut down? Notice how you're feeling about that goal, because if you're constantly making excuses, that might be an indication that this goal is not aligned with you. Maybe you need to adjust the goal. Maybe the goal is aligned, but the way you're going about it is not.

Speaker 1:

Next, I invite you to notice if any beliefs are coming up when you think about the excuse. So maybe you're noticing that you have a belief that you're not worthy of feeling a certain way in your body or looking a certain way. Or maybe you're finding a belief that, oh, I'm not the type of person who does X. Maybe I'm not the type of person who keeps the dishes clean or keeps the kitchen clean and the dishes in the dishwasher, right. We might have an identity attached around that, around that habit, around that goal right. And the last piece that I invite you to look into is that what is one health goal you've been desiring but are feeling stuck around? We've explored a little bit about this but I want you to, if it feels supportive, journal about any of those excuses. Journal about what's coming up for you around your health goal, because this will give you really wonderful insight into changes that might be supportive of you in actually reaching that health goal, versus continuing to feel stuck and making excuses around it.

Speaker 1:

And that was it for today, my friend. I hope you enjoyed the episode. I hope it brought a new perspective around excuses for you, for you, around them. So if there's any excuses, if you need the support in setting goals and building the skills to have higher energy levels on a regular basis, to improve your mood and to have better performance and mental clarity, then I invite you to book a mental wellness breakthrough with me, which is an introductory session for new folks in my world. Or, if you're not quite sure yet, if you are ready for that first session, I do have a complimentary support call. So if you want to hop on a call with me for 20 minutes and even discuss, hey, is coaching a good fit for me. Visit the show notes for the link to the complimentary support call or to book your mental wellness breakthrough, which is that introductory session where we're going to dive in together so that I can get to know you, your health goals, your values, and so we can tailor a plan moving forward so that you can make progress faster and with more ease than if you were to do it alone.

Speaker 1:

And if you haven't joined the Unforged email list yet, I highly recommend you do so. And if you haven't joined the Unforged email list yet, I highly recommend you do so. I will let you know when new podcast episodes come out. I will also be sending more trainings and tips and techniques into your inbox so that you can develop the skills and health habits to improve your nutrition and mental wellness and ultimately live your most flavorful, fulfilled life. I hope you have a phenomenal day. My friend and I will see you in the next episode. Thank you for listening to Unforged. You can find all resources and links from this episode in the show notes at thefulfilledforkcom forward slash podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, we'd love if you'd send it to a friend and rate and review the show on either Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Then email us a screenshot of your review to howdy at thefulfilledforkcom for a one-time credit to use towards our wellness services at the fulfilled fork chat soon.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Haley Schroth, RDN, LD, CPT, RYT, CMWC

Host