Step off the Scale: Break Free From Dieting
Are you tired of feeling like your worth is defined by the number on the scale?
Step Off the Scale is the podcast that helps you break free from diet culture and food guilt—for good. Hosted by Ashlee Wright, a registered dietitian and nutrition coach with over 14 years of experience, this show empowers women to build a healthier, more joyful relationship with food.
If you’re ready to stop obsessing over food and start living freely, you’re in the right place.
This podcast will deliver practical tips and mindset shifts to help you ditch dieting, heal your relationship with food, and embrace intuitive eating. Ashlee challenges toxic wellness trends, busts nutrition myths, and shares strategies you can actually use in your busy, real-life routine.
This show will answer common questions like:
How can I stop emotional eating?
What does food freedom mean, and how do I achieve it?
How do I overcome diet culture and its effects?
How can I improve my body image and self-esteem?
Is intuitive eating suitable for everyone?
What are the principles of intuitive eating?
How does stress affect my eating habits?
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, content creator, coach, or busy woman trying to balance it all—this podcast provides valuable insights to help you build lasting healthy habits without restriction or shame.
Subscribe now to step off the scale and into the life you were meant to live - free, nourished, and empowered.
Step off the Scale: Break Free From Dieting
8. Lacking in Energy and Motivation? Me too
In today’s episode, we’re talking about those moments when you feel completely blocked and unmotivated. Trust me - I’ve been there recently, feeling like there’s a giant Lego brick on my chest and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to get past it. But here’s the truth: you’re not alone.
Motivation can be elusive, and we all have days when we don’t feel like ourselves. But that doesn’t mean you’re failing. It just means you’re human.
In this episode, I’ll walk you through:
- Why it’s normal to feel blocked and how to embrace it
- The importance of taking small steps when motivation is low
- How mindset shifts like “What would I do if I wasn’t worried about being perfect?” can help you get out of your head and into action
- Why sometimes, the best thing you can do is give yourself permission to rest and recharge
Key Takeaways:
- Feeling blocked doesn’t mean you’re failing - it’s a normal part of life.
- Start small -take just one tiny action to build momentum, even when motivation is low.
- Mindset shift: Focus on how you want to feel, rather than worrying about what you “should” do.
- Celebrate small wins - even if they feel insignificant. They add up!
- Rest is key - you don’t have to do it all, and sometimes, taking a break is exactly what you need.
Connect with Ashlee:
Resources:
Welcome to Step Off the Scale, the podcast where we are redefining health and happiness beyond the numbers. I'm your host, Ashley Wright, a dietician for over a decade, mom of two and craft beer lover. Together, we'll say goodbye to restrictive diets and learn simple strategies to help you actually enjoy your food again without guilt. Now let's dive in together without guilt. Now let's dive in together. Well, hello there and welcome back to another episode of Step Off the Scale.
Speaker 1:I am so excited to be here with you today and I wanted to talk to you today about something that I feel like we all go through and that is a lack of motivation, those times where you just feel like completely blocked, like you feel so heavy and you just can't seem to get out of your own freaking way. I have been there recently and, honestly, it's been really for the past couple weeks. I just haven't quite felt like myself, I haven't quite felt on my game. I just feel like there's this giant Lego brick on my chest and, no matter what I do, I can't seem to get around it. I'm starting to come back, but it's been a little bit of a challenge lately and I know that a lot of you out there also struggle with it. So I wanted to talk about it and give you some tips to dig yourself out of the hole Because, honestly, I know that's what it feels like. I know that being stuck is not fun, especially when you're trying to build new habits or make new lasting changes. It is hard and you know we have to normalize that. It's hard, it's not always easy, and I just want to tell you that you're not alone. We're going to talk about why this happens, how to push through it, just what to do when motivation just feels like completely out of reach. That's exactly where I have felt lately and hence why you know, I haven't recorded a podcast episode in a little while.
Speaker 1:It was just where I couldn't bring myself to do things that were out of my just like normal day-to-day. You know, it's where you're just like, okay, I just myself to do things that were out of my just like normal day to day. You know, it's where you're just like, okay, I just got to do the things I got to do. I got to take care of my kids and be with my family, I got to cook the meals, I got to work, I got to do all the things and you just can't. You don't just have, like, the brain space right To do any of the extra stuff, and it's okay, Right? So the first thing that I want to do is just normalize the struggle. You know like we've all been there.
Speaker 1:A lack of motivation is a real thing. Motivation is never going to be a reliable thing and I think that we tend to rely on it way too much. You know, we can just feel like you have these heavy things sitting on you and you just can't seem to shake it. Sometimes we just hit these walls, whether it's with our food, our goals or just life in general, and I want to let you know, first of all, that you are not failing. We all have moments where we feel stuck. We all have moments where we don't feel motivated to do shit. Right. And you know, that Lego brick that I feel like is on me. I know I keep why I keep feeling like it's this big, like blue Lego brick in front of me.
Speaker 1:I know it's not permanent and it's part of the process, right, and it's something that we all go through, but the key thing is is to not beat yourself up about having that lack of motivation or just feeling, not yourself. You know we feel like we need to be on all the time and doing all the right shit all the time, and it's just not possible. You know, don't beat yourself up, but work a little bit at a time to get through it. What actually keeps us moving forward with something is commitment and discipline and dedication to ourselves. And even on the days where motivation is nowhere to be found and I'm not saying like you got to push through and push hard and you got to be committed and disciplined every single day no, but we have to just like get off our butt and actually do something about it eventually, right, but we just kind of have to sit there and embrace the suck for a little bit first.
Speaker 1:So one thing that I am learning to do is just kind of sit there and be like okay, how am I feeling right now? What is this block all about? How is it making me feel? What do I think caused it? You know, just kind of sitting with it for a little bit, because sometimes we tend to push things away, you know, and not actually think about like okay, what is actually happening in my brain right now and why is this happening? It's always like, well, I shouldn't be feeling this way? Am I feeling this way? Am I not feeling motivated? Why can't I do this? And then we just drive ourselves effing crazy. Right, we just need to think about how we want to show up for ourselves when times get tough. You know, and it's okay that they're tough, and it's normal that they're tough. You're not a robot and you need to remember that. So the first thing is to acknowledge the freaking feeling, and it's okay. Just sit with it for a minute, feel it and remind yourself that it's temporary you are not stuck forever, by any means. And then start small. Start with just one small action. Make a small decision, like taking a five-minute walk or maybe just picking one healthy snack today. Just get a little bit of momentum going. Don't worry about perfection, Just focus on a little tiny step.
Speaker 1:Today, I had to literally sit down and be like okay, Ashley, what all do you need to do to make this happen? Right now? I was like okay, I had to plug in my microphone, I got to get my laptop set up, I need to be comfortable and have a water next to me. I literally had to like walk myself through these steps to make it happen. Then, once I hit the record button, I felt so much better because I've wanted to record an episode and I just had this block, like I'm not sure what I want to say right now, you know, and I just want to normalize that for everybody. You know, I had to be like okay, I'm going to plug this microphone in, I'm going to do the little steps and I'm just going to start talking to my people, because they're the ones that I want to help. You know, this is also what I had to realize is that I needed to give myself permission to rest.
Speaker 1:Sometimes the best way to get unstuck is to give your permission to actually just like sit and be and rest and not do anything for a while, Like take a break, recharge and when you're ready, come back with like a new set of eyes on something. I was trying really hard last weekend to force myself to sit down and record an episode and do some other things I wanted to do and I wanted to just spend time with my husband. We had some time without the kiddos and I'm like you know what we're going to go shopping, we're going to go to a brewery, we're going to enjoy ourselves and I'm not going to feel bad about it, and sometimes you just need to give yourself that permission and then you feel a hell of a lot better after the fact. Right, Shift your focus on how you want to feel Instead of focusing on what should I be doing.
Speaker 1:Ask how do I want to feel right now, how do I want to feel physically, emotionally? And when you focus on that feeling, you'll find that the actions start to flow more naturally. So when I sat here and I'm like how do I want to feel right now? I want to feel like I'm making a difference in the lives of the women who are listening to my podcast right now, that's how I want to feel. I want to feel like they are seen and they are heard and they don't have to be on this vicious dieting cycle that has just kept them stuck for far too long. That's how I want to feel and that's what keeps me going in those moments when I feel really stuck. Sometimes you just feel stuck and there's nothing that's going to keep you going, but you have to just constantly remind yourself of like okay, how do I want to feel? What's the reason that I'm here right now? So next, I want to talk about just a couple actionable tips for when you're stuck.
Speaker 1:So another mindset shift, when you're feeling blocked. Ask yourself what would I do if I wasn't worried about being perfect right now? How many of you out there have gotten into that all or nothing thinking. That just makes you crazy. Right, that all or nothing thinking it just it keeps you in your head and you're just going crazy. But when we get away from that all or nothing thinking and stop worrying about being perfect, that's when we can get out of our head and start to take at least a little bit of action. Out of our head and start to take at least a little bit of action.
Speaker 1:The other thing we can do is celebrate our small wins. Every teeny, tiny victory counts. Do not discount it and please give yourself more credit. Celebrate the moments that matter. You know, if you like had a little bit more energy this morning than you had yesterday, or if you like opened a jar with a little more ease than you did yesterday, you know just, we got to celebrate those little things because they are progress and those are the things that are going to keep you moving forward If you're constantly reminding yourself of the little things that you did. Well, today we're all really good at beating ourselves up and finding the stuff that we didn't feel like we did well.
Speaker 1:So I just want you to know that feeling blocked doesn't mean that you're failing. It means that you're human. We all go through it, including myself, and the key is to keep showing up even when motivation isn't there. But don't force yourself to show up when you just feel like you need to rest. You don't have to do that. You don't have to do that to yourself. You know we got to show up eventually, but sometimes, if you need to get a couple days and rest and like you know what, I'm not showing up for anything. Anything that I don't have to show up for right now, you know it's okay.
Speaker 1:Take the small steps, and those little small steps are what create real, lasting change. And for this next week, when you feel blocked, just focus on one little tiny action, something that seems simple. Or if your heart and your soul is telling you you know what, you just need to rest today, Order some takeout and watch a movie with the kids. Then that's what you do. It's really okay. We need to stop feeling guilty about taking better care of ourselves. And if that Lego brick is sitting on your chest, like it did for me. Take a deep breath and remember that it's only temporary. Remember, being stuck doesn't mean that you're not moving forward.
Speaker 1:Okay, Take that with you today. Show up one small step at a time and allow yourself to rest when you need to. So I just want you to know that I love you and you're not alone in any of these things that you're feeling and experiencing, and just know that motivation and willpower are both not reliable things at all. So it's okay if you're not feeling it today. You are totally allowed to, and I will see you next time on Step Off the Scale.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for spending your time with me today on Step Off the Scale. I know that life can be crazy busy and I truly appreciate you taking the time to be here with me today. And just a quick reminder that your worth is not defined by number on the scale and you don't need to follow restrictive diet rules to feel good in your body. You deserve to feel freedom, confidence and a life where eating feels easy again. If today's episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review or share it with a friend who needs to hear it. Your support means the world to me and it helps this message reach more women who are ready to break free from diet culture and live a happier life in their own body. Take good care of yourself and I'll see you next time.