Have you ever woken up already? Feeling tired? You’re pushing through the day. You’re taking care of everyone else, but by the time evening comes, you have absolutely nothing left, then you wonder – why can’t I lose weight? Being tired doesn’t make you lazy. Sometimes the biggest obstacle to losing weight–it’s a lack of energy. Rest is not weakness. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is go to bed. When you have more energy, healthy choices become easier.
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Vanessa Carlton fitness podcast. I’m Doctor Vanessa Carlton, physical therapist and founder of Vanessa Carlton Fitness, where we help busy women become stronger, healthier and more confident without spending hours in the gym. Because nowadays, who has time for that? Right. All right. Can I ask you something? Have you ever woken up already? Feeling tired?
Like you wake up and you’re just like, I’m so tired. Maybe you’ve had your coffee. You’re pushing through the day. You’re taking care of everyone else, waiting for that energy to kick in. And you’re taking care of everyone else. But by the time evening comes, you have absolutely nothing left. And then you wonder, gosh darn it! Why can’t I lose weight?
What happened to my motivation? Right. We talked about motive. We talked about motivation a lot. Actually. It’s. It’s gone. Why is it so hard? If that sounds familiar, today’s episode is for you. So let’s do it. Let’s dive in. I don’t know about you, but have you ever felt like you’re tired? Has answered like just this new level of straight up e that easy for empty the EEOC in your car when you got to put gas in and you’re like, oh, gonna make it, gonna make it, gonna make it until you don’t.
I don’t know about you, but I recently experienced this. And it wasn’t only that I was tired. Right. But my body felt heavy, my thoughts were heavy. Everything just felt like it needed more than I could give. Just even little things like washing dishes, making a program, helping my kids, even my workouts. I was literally dragging. It just felt so heavy and for me, super frustrating because I hate that feeling of being weak and having to rest if I had it my way.
I’d never be tired, but that’s just not how it goes. We are human and need to rest. Adequate rest is necessary. And guess what? Here is the good news. Rest is where all the magic happens. That’s what I share with all my clients when I work with them. During our one on one live zoom sessions. During these sessions, it’s a great reminder that yes, it’s good to work hard during your workouts, but when we’re resting, that’s where the fat is breaking down and the muscle is building.
Here’s something I wish more women understood. Being tired doesn’t make you lazy, but it can make healthy choices much harder. Think about it. When you’re well rested, you’re more likely to prepare a healthy meal. Go for a walk. Exercise. Stay patient. Right? That was one of the things I was struggling with. Make thoughtful decisions. But when you’re exhausted, like I mentioned with myself, everything feels harder.
Everything feels harder. I’ve worked with so many women over these last 20 years, and it’s maybe a different story, a woman in a different season of life. But it’s pretty much the same outcome, if you will. Where they blamed themselves, they’d say, I have no willpower, I keep failing, I’m just not discipline or I’m just not motivated. But after talking with them, I’ve discovered something.
Many of them were sleeping anywhere between 4 or 6 hours a night, working all day, helping aging parents, serving someone else before themselves. No wonder they felt.
Sometimes the biggest obstacle to losing weight is a lack of effort, right? Like with my own story. Like I was literally dragging. It’s a lack of energy. When we’re tired, we’re more likely to grab whatever food is convenient, more likely to skip our workouts, even though that’s going to give us some energy. More likely to stay on the couch or tell ourselves I I’ll start tomorrow.
Not because we don’t care, because we simply don’t have much left to give. So stop beating yourself up. Can I encourage you if you’ve been feeling constantly exhausted, please don’t assume it’s just something you have to live with. Let me repeat myself. Being tired all the time is not something you have to live with. Sometimes it’s improving your sleep habits, managing your stress, eating enough nutritious food, staying active.
Or maybe it’s talking with your health care provider or your coach about ongoing fatigue and how that can make a real difference. Do you need to change your environment? Are there things that are zapping your energy away? Is it a thing? Is it an electronics device? Is it a person? Is it a group of people? Maybe put the phone away.
Right. Are you scrolling for hours on end? Maybe it’s a toxic show or movie. Maybe you’re eating too many foods that take energy away versus giving you energy, right? Is this food going to take it away, or is it going to give me the energy I need? Your body. Your body is worth paying attention to. And so I had to learn this the hard way.
When recently my body said no and it just shut down. I had to take a look at my environment, my schedule, the needs of my family and make changes to give my body, my mind and body rest for me and my family. Since we homeschool and this is our family business, that meant making changes to the schedule routines.
Who is in charge of what? Removing time wasters off my phone and leaning more on the awesome coaches and trainers that help me serve our clients. I share this not to be on a soapbox, right? I don’t. Not for you to feel sorry for me, but so you can see that you’re not alone and it can happen to anyone.
But here’s the thing. Ready? There’s hope. Yes, there is hope. Pain. This is one of my favorite quotes. Pain is inevitable at times, but suffering is optional. Don’t suffer. Don’t make yourself suffer. Another thing I see is women trying to lose weight by eating less and less and less. They skip breakfast, barely eat lunch and they wonder why they’re exhausted by dinner.
Your body needs good fuel. It needs fuel. Healthy eating isn’t about starving yourself. It’s about nourishing yourself. I remember working with one client who said, I just don’t have the energy to exercise. She was working nights at a hospital. Her schedule was changing frequently, not to mention the stress at home. So we didn’t start with exercise per se.
We found one day where she could work out, but we started with sleep and changing her routine with one workout a week, which quickly changed to more as her sleep improved. We have more of a consistent bedtime, right? What the things of what she would do when she got home instead of being on the phone or putting on the TV.
I’m getting to bed sooner. She was drinking more water, started eating breakfast, eating a healthy meal, eating breakfast before she went to work. She was taking short walks.
These. Oh, also stretching at work, right? I gave her some stretches for her shoulder. Her hips? That made her feel good. These small changes. Nothing extreme. A few weeks later, I remember her smiling and saying, I actually want to work out today and let’s add in another day. Boom! Amazing little things. It wasn’t because I motivated her. She let me help.
We look for a small, small opportunities and together, you know, implementing them. Me helping her, coming alongside her. But she’s doing the work. She finally had the energy. That’s huge. Huge. Can I tell you something? Rest is not weakness. It’s part of good stewardship. Our culture is constantly celebrates being busy, doing more, sleeping less. Grind grind grind. But God designed us with limits.
Even for myself, I have to respect that and remind myself like I have limitations. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is go to bed. It reminds me of that funny story. That funny story, but the story of Elijah when he’s just like, at his wits end. He was saying, I’ve had enough. And going on and on. And in this particular story, the age of the Lord said, go to sleep.
When he woke up, they said, eat, drink, go to sleep again. Write the story of Elijah in First Kings. He was ready to, like, take his life. Be done. He was at the his wits end and at the end of it. I’m paraphrasing, but at the end of it, he needed to get some rest. Get up, eat something good, drink, get some rest again, and then boom, he can move forward for the rest of his journey.
He had an important assignment. He had a calling for his life. He had the journey ahead. As do you. You have a purpose. You have a calling. You have a journey. Let’s live. Get the rest you need so you can keep going. You’re not weak.
Here’s what I encourage women to focus on. Protect. Protect your sleep whenever you can. So how do you do that? One of the things I do. My friends and family know not to call me really past 830 at night. Alas, it’s an emergency. Little things. Turn off your phone or turn off the internet. Maybe take some things off your phone that will distract you or keep you up.
Eat food that gives you energy. I always ask my clients, are they getting at least three servings of vegetables a day? What does that look like? Are you getting fruit right? Enough protein. So again, eat the foods that give you energy. Vegetables, fruits. Enough protein. Move your body consistently. At least 15 minutes and you’ll find yourself. You may do more, but get in that 15 minutes.
Manage stress in healthy ways. I like to journal. I like to pray. Worship. Singing. Talking to a friend. Build strength. Work those muscles. And if you need help creating a program, I would love to help you with that. None of these things are flashy, right? But together they create the foundation for better health. Remember you. You don’t have to fix every thing this week.
You don’t need to be perfect. Just progress 1% better each day. You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to have a perfect life to make progress. You just need one healthy decision, then another, then another. And I truly believe God didn’t create us to spend our lives to be completely worn out. No no no no. He created us to enjoy life and to live it abundantly.
To serve others right, to have energy, to love our families, to use the gifts he’s given us. Taking care of your health is not selfish. It’s preparing yourself to live the life he’s called you to live. Okay, so here’s your challenge this week. Instead of asking, how can I lose weight faster? Ask yourself, what’s one thing? What’s one thing that I that could help me feel more energized?
Maybe it’s going to bed 30 minutes earlier. Maybe it’s drinking more water, eating a balanced breakfast, taking a short walk. Turning off your phone before bed. Choose just one. What’s one thing you can do and start there? Because when you have more energy, healthy choices become easier. And when healthy choices become easier, consistency follows. You got this. We can do this together.
I really hope that this blessed you and encouraged you. And if today’s episode encourage you, share it with someone who has been feeling exhausted lately. They may not need more willpower. They made simply need a healthier foundation. And if you’d like, how creating a personalized plan that fits your busy life I would love, love, love to walk alongside you.
You can reach out to us at (207) 467-5509, or visit us at Vanessa Carlson to learn more about our one on one coaching, live virtual training and supportive community. Thank you so much for spending time with me today. If these episodes are encouraging you and helping you become healthier. I’d love to have you join us. Consider subscribing so you don’t miss future conversations.
We release new episodes every weekday, and I’d love to continue this journey with you. All right, guys, mehendi. Until next time. Keep moving. Keep smiling. Taking care of your body. Protect, protect, protect your energy. And remember, a healthy life isn’t built by pushing yourself to the ground. Like I had to remind myself. It’s built one wise, one healthy, one healthy weight one wise, one faithful, one healthy choice at a time.
God bless you and I’ll see you in the next episode. Episode 12. When we talk about how to lose weight without giving up the food, you love. Ciao for now.
Vanessa Carlson, and I am the owner of Vanessa Carlson Fitness. I am Raider Carlson and I am the general manager. At VC fitness our first goal is our fun first approach with all of our clients. Working out should not feel like a punishment at all, and we strive to make it the highlight of their day. The workouts are tailored.
I love using my background as a doctor, physical therapy to make sure that we’re meeting our clients where they’re at, to help them to get to where they want to be. And I think the third thing is the accountability and communication. So not only do we have one on one sessions with our clients in person and via zoom, but with the app, we are communicating with our clients almost on a daily basis so that they feel confident.
Those companies don’t have a doctor of physical therapy on staff. And so obviously Vanessa is a doctor of physical therapy and highly sought out around the country. And that brings me to my next point that we are the highest rated, the most reviewed personal training company in Portland, Maine, where our headquarters are located. However, we train virtually nationwide through zoom, through live zoom sessions, and so it doesn’t matter where you live.
You can work with Vanessa. And then the third thing is our very first session with Vanessa is only a dollar. We call it the region rise assessments, where basically it’s a meet and greet where she looks at your body using her Doctor of physical therapy skills to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your session and make sure that it’s a good fit for you.
I mean, obviously, we know that we can work with anybody, but obviously it’s got to be a good fit for you. So when I was a child, my grandmother had breast cancer and I was very close with her and was with her for a lot of her appointments with chemo, radiation, all the things and kind of seeing how that affected her.
And I just knew early on I wanted to do something to help people with their health. I didn’t really know what that was going to look like. Fast forward as a child, I remember getting my first Barbie workout video working out with Dance Barbie, and that just was a core memory for me. It closed the door, worked out, felt great, and then fast forward some more.
I knew that I wanted to do something in the health and medical field, and had really great mentors and teachers that helped direct me where I knew I wanted to have a gym one day. I didn’t know how I was going to look, and we had our opportunity. As I was a physical therapist to open our first gym, I just went for it and just really wanted to help people learn how to take care of their bodies.
I just knew that fitness was my passion. And just over the years, it just all worked out together. And here we are. The rest is history. So here’s the thing you don’t have to figure this on your own. And I totally understand how exercise can be overwhelming. We all know that we need to eat healthy and exercise and work out on carve time for it, and don’t feel like you have to know it all.
Do it all by yourself. And even if you’re feeling unmotivated, know that you’re not alone. So my my message to you is surround yourself with someone who is motivated. For someone that is passionate about exercise and eating well and building a positive habits, good healthy habits. I don’t know how to paint, but if I want to make a canvas painting, I’m going to go to a place that the person is a great teacher and passionate about it.
And I’m going to come out with a beautiful painting. Same thing with this. Take the shame. Take the pressure off of your shoulders. You’re not alone in this. Many people I work with all the time don’t know where to start, and I am honored to come alongside and help you figure it out. And just start building that momentum and get in your stride.
And I promise you, you won’t regret it. So anything that we’re saying resonates with you. Don’t wait. Just call the number. Or you can put your information on our website and someone will get. Get back in touch with you very, very quickly. I mean, you got to do it so fast and you don’t know what you’re doing because your mind, which I get in the.
So don’t let them get in the way. Only it’s only $1 to try, Vanessa. And it might be the most impactful hour in 15 minutes of your life. Here at VC fitness for your first consultation, it’s only $1. The assessment is going to just go over some things that are on your heart. Give me a good idea of your body awareness, your mechanics and see if we are a good fit and it only costs $1.
So you can find us at BC fitness. Or you can call the number (207) 467-5509. Again, that is (207) 467-5509. And you can look at us and VC Fitness dot live. And one more time you can call (207) 467-5509. And we are waiting for your call.