The Unf*ck Your Fitness Podcast

142. Learning to Love Routine and Repetition on Your Fitness Journey

• Kristy Castillo

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When it comes to our health and fitness, we tend to make it sooo damn complicated. 


This isn’t necessarily our fault. We are constantly bombarded with information from coaches and influencers on social media, to health and wellness companies trying to sell us the ‘next best thing’. It’s exhausting, overwhelming, and honestly..I’m OVER IT!


I’ve been on my fitness journey for over 16 years now, and I’ve learned how powerful REPETITION is.


No, it’s not the *sexiest* topic, or super exciting. It’s actually pretty boring..but that’s not a bad thing either!


We tend to overcomplicate pretty much everything with our health and fitness - simplicity tends to throw us off, because we always think we need to be doing something ‘new’ or ‘different’. Really, we’re just adding more to our plates, but it’s not *actually* helping us in the long-term.


Both your workouts + your nutrition don’t need to be ‘fun and flashy’ all the time - you shouldn’t be looking for a new workout program every month, or new recipes to make every single week! For your meals, find what works best for you and your family, and keep simple staple foods on hand (these have been a game-changer for me over the years)! 


At the end of the day, consistent, repetitive habits ARE what will lead you to success (this is applicable to many areas of your life). Stay focused, stop over complicating everything, and embrace the routine and repetition on your fitness journey!


In this episode, we cover:

  • Why our fitness journey has become so damn complicated
  • Keeping it ‘simple’ with our health & fitness + why we tend to always be looking for the ‘next thing’
  • The one MAJOR thing that simplified my fitness journey + made it doable for me long-term
  • Understanding that your workouts won’t (and shouldn’t) always be ‘fun and flashy’
  • Uncomplicating your meals and nutrition so it’s not such a struggle
  • The simple mindset shift I made regarding my food & meals
  • How staple foods can help you tremendously + my go-to staple foods


Links/Resources:

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Un-Fuck-Your-Fitness Podcast. I am your host, Christy Castillo, and I'm here to give you real talk and cut the BS so you can actually enjoy building a body you love. I'm a personal trainer obsessed with giving you simple action steps to take you from feeling stuck to feeling sexy. Let's go.

Speaker 2:

Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to today's episode. We are going to be talking today about learning to love the repetition in your fitness journey. So one thing, just one thing, that I have learned is that we make this journey way too complicated, and I don't really think that that's our fault. When I think back in my own journey and think about what made it so complicated for me, one of the things that comes to my mind is Beachbody, and I'll get into that in a minute.

Speaker 2:

But there's social media right now, right, so there's a lot of personal trainers, there's a lot of coaches, there's a lot of information, there's doctors, there's commercials, there's reels, there's posts. There's so much stuff, even just from our friends and things that we hear. So information is being blasted on our faces all the time, and so that's one huge way that this journey, this fitness journey, this lifestyle, has become way too complicated. Gaining muscle is way too complicated. Losing weight and fat is way too complicated, right, it's like we know what to do. Like I always say, we know what to do, but there's so much information at our fingertips that it makes it really hard to take action, and so I just learned that through myself, obviously, doing this journey and through coaching hundreds of women. The questions that I get asked are, a lot of times, things that don't matter, that I think please don't worry about that, that will fix itself or that has little to no bearing on your results and what you're trying to do. So I want to talk about learning to love the repetition, because I have clients sometimes who will start to see results doing the simplest things getting their habits in line and eating the right foods and eating the same foods and it's almost like when it becomes too simple, I will have clients that are like I don't think this is working. I think I need to add cardio or I think I need to take out some calories and I think I need to cut out this food and I think I need to add more and do more or take away things. And it's just we're always like can I be doing something else? What else can I be doing? What else do I need? We're always looking for the next thing and that makes it more complicated. Just, it's okay to be bored, it's okay to feel like you're doing things repetitively because you are and, quite honestly, that's the part that I've learned to love and you will have to learn to love it, because we think that our workouts need to be fun and flashy. Right, we see so many workouts come through Again.

Speaker 2:

This is me on my Instagram, because I follow people that work out, but I don't know if you do. I hope so. I mean, I hope you're diving into the lifestyle sort of not overwhelmingly so. But I know a lot of my clients will ask me questions. They're like I saw this workout or I saw this trainer and she posted this and she posted that. Is that something I need to do? Is that something I need to worry about? And I'm like no, that trainer probably doesn't even do that particular workout, so you absolutely do not need to do it.

Speaker 2:

But we're seeing different things thrown in our face all the time different supplements, different foods, different recipes, different workouts, different everything and we're always thinking new object, new object, new object, new object. And we need to stop. Our workouts do not need to be fun and flashy. Our meals do not need to be new each week and they do not need to have a shit ton of ingredients. They do not need to be beautiful. They do not need to be pretty. They need to taste good. That'd be awesome. That's a plus. But that's one thing that I felt like Beachbody made me think was that I always needed to be doing something fresh and new and exciting. Now that I kind of think back, I think it's probably part of why they succeed.

Speaker 2:

Obviously, no-transcript. We have a new step, we have a new band. We have a new nutrition program. We have a new shake. We have a new supplement, we have a new, we have a new, we have a new. Something is always new. It's always fun, it's always flashy, it looks exciting. You need this, you need this, right. That's one thing that I felt like with Beachbody.

Speaker 2:

It was like I am so sick. Eventually I got so sick of doing new workouts. It's like if you come out with another goddamn program, I literally am quitting because I don't want to sell this to my clients. I'm sick of promoting this. I don't need it. Can this just be simple? How am I ever going to make this a lifestyle if I'm always looking for the next new program, the next new program, the next new way to count macros, the next new band, the next new thing, the next new app?

Speaker 2:

It's too much and that keeps us stuck and it keeps us needing someone else. It keeps us needing a program, needing a company, needing something. We never trust ourselves because we're like, oh my God, I saw results with this program and now in the commercial it says I'll see results with this program and it's so complicated. But that also has taught us that it needs to be fun and it needs to be flashy and food needs to taste great and you need to have recipes and you need to have all these different ingredients and you need to plan every single thing and you need to prep and you need to prep your food, but don't get bored prepping your food. So you should prep different meals every single week. It's just a lot, and I'm here to tell you that probably the one thing that simplified this for me and actually made it doable was when I stopped doing new things, when I finally subscribed to the notion that I need to do the same thing pretty much every day, eat the same foods very, very often, do the same workouts week after week after week after week after week after week.

Speaker 2:

I don't like to do them for more than four weeks in a row. I kind of get bored. But I will do the same movements. I'll just mix them up in different ways or kind of add something or kind of sneak a week in between like a deload week and then keep going. So if you're part of Fit Club, you know that. But doing the same workouts for four weeks in a row is perfect. That allows your body to get used to the movements. You can progressive overload. It's mind-muscle connection. How are you going to build muscle if you're doing some jumps in between and some hops in between and some burpees in between and you're out of breath? You can't lift heavier for the next move if you're out of breath the entire workout.

Speaker 2:

If you don't ever get to know what's coming next, you're always going to be taking too long to watch the videos. I know that when you first start a program, obviously you've got to watch the videos and you've got to learn it. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking with, for example, a program or a company that's like five years down the road You're like what move is that? You're with the same company doing the same videos and you're like a new move, we just invented a new move. I've been with you for five. I guarantee if you're with me for five years you're not going to see a new move. Okay, because you don't need it, because then that's a good way to maybe not use good form and throw your back out like I did a couple weeks ago. Actually, I was front squatting too much weight, but anyway, it wasn't a new move. But does that make sense? It doesn't need to be something brand new.

Speaker 2:

All of the moves, all of the exercises that you need to do have been made up. How long have people bodybuilders really really ripped smart, intelligent, healthy, fit, big buff, muscular people? How long have these people been working out? If there is a move that needs to be invented, it will be by someone who, first of all, has the licensure to be able to do that, and it's going to be a very simple tweak of something that's already been done. Everything that you need to do for a workout has already been done, so it's just finding you know, the trainer that you like to work with, the style of workouts that you like. What can you adhere to? What person do you want to work with, what types like, what works for you? And, yes, that will change, as I've talked about, but we need to be doing the same things I recommend for about, but we need to be doing the same things I recommend for workouts, lifting weights three to four days a week, and then you can add in your jogging, you can add in your cycling, you can add in your Pilates, you can add in your group classes, do whatever the you want after three to four days of solid weightlifting.

Speaker 2:

But they don't need to be fun and flashy. You can go have fun in your classes and stuff like that. I'm not saying that they can't be. I'm not saying don't have fun or don't try something new. I'm just saying it doesn't always have to be fun. This isn't always going to be fun, and if you're not having fun in your workouts, do them anyway. If they're working, do them anyway. This doesn't have to be fun. This is mandatory. This shit is not optional. These are habits, this is lifestyle, this is muscle for life, for growth, for longevity. It's not going to be always fun. Now let's move on to meals, because I feel like workouts are like people, are like Christy if you give me workouts to do, I'll do it.

Speaker 2:

I struggle with nutrition. Part of the struggle with nutrition is also that same thing. We're always looking for new recipes. We're always looking for new meals. I'm so bored I don't know what to cook. And as women? Yeah, we do.

Speaker 2:

Unfortunately, somehow we have gotten ourselves into the situation of what are we going to have for dinner. But here's the thing you don't have to decide what. You can ask your significant other, you can ask your family. What do you guys want for dinner? Why don't you cook dinner tonight? I'm done. This is not like my job. I didn't sign a contract saying I would do this every freaking night, or that you would like what I cook, or that I even would cook, or that it's going to be different every night. We're having tacos every single night this week. Guys, if you don't like it, I don't know, maybe cook it yourself. I don't know, that sounds so grouchy, but seriously, it just is like that's really complicated, and for me, my meals are not extravagant.

Speaker 2:

My family is not used to me cooking very often because I will say those exact things. I have not had time to cook dinner tonight. Has anyone else had time in this home? Maybe then you could cook dinner, because I can't do it, I'm not doing it, whatever. That's a whole different sidebar. But dinner is something that my clients struggle with.

Speaker 2:

As moms, we're like I have goals, but my husband doesn't have goals. My significant other doesn't have goals. My best friend that I live with doesn't have goals. My kids don't have goals. Like, what do I do then? Well, that's hard because, yeah, I mean, I have goals as well, physically, that my husband doesn't have, that my kids don't have, and you can make meals that can be interchangeable, or you can make a meal for your family and you can eat something different. If your goals aren't the same as theirs, then you're not gonna eat like them, like there's different ways to get around it. So that's an entirely different concept and probably an entirely different podcast in itself, but what I wanna stick with is the fact that things don't always need to be fresh and exciting. Your meals don't always need to be extravagant. They don't always need to be extravagant, they don't always need to be fresh. Leftovers are a real and amazing thing.

Speaker 2:

A mindset shift that I also made was that food is fuel and so, yes, I want to enjoy what I'm eating, of course, but I don't always have to enjoy what I'm eating, right? I don't love vegetables and they actually don't digest very well with my stomach issues, but I eat them, right. I don't want to always choose these staple foods that I'm going to kind of get into in a minute. I would rather have ice cream, I would rather have Oreos, I would rather have Little Debbie fancy cakes or these Christmas tree cakes and I do every once in a while. Obviously we know this about me. Unless this is your first episode, then welcome. I love Oreos, but you can have those things, but every single day.

Speaker 2:

If I'm not conscious and I don't make a decision and I'm not dedicated to my goals, I will very easily skip out on these staple foods. I will very easily slip into bad habits. I have a major sweet tooth and I love food and I love to eat. When I realized like food is meant to fuel me, food is meant to help me live and survive and feel good, and by feeding my body shit all the time, especially the foods that I would honestly eat if I was given the choice, I would not pick great food. So I'm just telling you those foods are not good for me. And so when I really think about you know the point of eating food is to have a better quality life and to have a better quality body. When you get that out of your head and you're like, okay, I don't need to have a meal right now. That tastes freaking amazing and it's beautiful and all fancy. What I need to just have is a protein and a fat and a carb and put it on a plate and eat it because it's fueling my body. So that kind of took things in a different direction for me. It was a different perspective of like I don't have to necessarily enjoy this meal, it's my last meal on earth and it's just the most amazing thing. Right, it's fuel and it is what it is. That's a really good way of looking at it.

Speaker 2:

The more redundant, the more repetitive you can get with your workouts and your foods and just your journey in general, having a routine, your steps, your water, your food, your tracking. The more routine you can be, the less thought you have to put into it. And that, my friends, is where the magic happens, because the more you just do and the less you have to think, the less room there is for error. So when I learned about staple foods obviously we know what staple foods are it's like having staple foods in your pantry, right? Foods that we always have. We always have our flour and our sugar and our evaporated milk and whatever, just in case we have to bake cookies, I guess I don't know, but you can have those staple pantry items and you can also have staple foods to hit your goals, and this really helped me.

Speaker 2:

I have a lot of clients who are like well, I just don't like to eat the same things every day. Actually, I've had, I should say, a lot of clients that used to say that they don't really anymore. I don't care, it's either. You're going to do this and realize that food is fuel and you have to start eating these things and you have to start packing them and you have to start tracking them. You have to start doing these things. I can't just keep saying to myself I love Oreos and I hate broccoli, so I'm going to eat Oreos all day. My body doesn't care, my goals don't care, don't care. So I understand that it's maybe not fun and maybe you don't like it very much to eat the same things every day. But do you like being overweight? Do you like feeling like shit? Do you like having food anxiety all the time of like what am I going to eat today? Oh, my God, I'm not going to hit my goals. I'm so stressed out. What if they bring a pot? What if there's a potluck at work. What am I going to eat? Do you like that feeling? No, because for me, I didn't like that.

Speaker 2:

So I would rather have some staple foods and I break it down. I'm going to give you a list of staple foods that I'm. It's very short. I am coming up with a freebie that I'm going to be giving out soon on Instagram and stories and email lists and all the things, and it will have some food lists in it which I'm really excited about. But I'm going to break down some staple foods for me and then I break it even further into breakfast options, snack options for midday snack, lunch options, evening snack and dinner, and so I'll kind of show you kind of how I do that. But make this something that you can do.

Speaker 2:

Don't just use the foods that I use. I'm not. These are foods that I enjoy and foods that I like I'm not. You know, these are foods that I enjoy and foods that I like and foods that help me get to my goals. You do not by any means have to eat these particular foods, but figure out foods that you like. What do you like and what can you eat every day, and how can you kind of make it a little bit different flavor-wise and make it a little more fun. And how can you also just tell yourself I'm an adult and I have to eat these foods even if they're not extremely fun. So some staple foods for me are protein shakes.

Speaker 2:

I drink First Form protein shake mix or I will get a pre-mixed shake from the gas station. I like Shamrock Farms, I like Core Life. That's about all that I personally drink. Just because of my stomach issues, I have to be careful with how they're processed and lactose and all the kind of things. But protein shakes love having one of those every single day. Protein bars I love First Form, I love Bare Bells and I love Built Bars brands. Those are my top three and probably always will be and have been for years. I love Clear Protein.

Speaker 2:

This is kind of a newer thing. It's basically a protein shake idea, whereas it's like a powder that you mix with water. But it tastes like fruit and it's not chalky at all. It's so freaking good. It literally tastes like juice and the texture is juice-wise. It's not thick, so it's not like a shake, so it's nice something you can just drink, sip on all day. It's 20 grams of protein.

Speaker 2:

First I tried the Clean, simple Eats brand. That came in a can so that was kind of nice, because I'm addicted to energy drinks and this was kind of something that I could crack open and take with me and felt like it was an energy drink in my hand, not in my body. And now I'm drinking the First Form brand. It comes in a bag. You scoop it, I mix it with water. There's 20 grams of protein, so I've been having one of those every day. I just ran out. I'm waiting for another shipment, but I'll be taking those to. I said this in a previous episode, I forgot about that, so I'll be taking those to basketball games here soon and that's 20 grams of protein that I'll be getting in every single day.

Speaker 2:

Greek yogurt is another. I love the Oikos or the Ratio brand. The Oikos 20 grams protein, ratio is 25. I'm personally not going to have anything less than 20, if I can help it, because why not maximize the protein? Right, they do have, obviously, 8 grams, 12 grams, 15 grams of protein Greek yogurts. But why would you get a 12 when you can get 20? I'm just getting the most protein, the most bang for my buck as far as protein goes Kodiak waffles, kodiak oatmeal, kodiak pancake mix.

Speaker 2:

I also have the Clean, simple Eats pancake mix. It's really good. So Kodiak brand I love their stuff. Tuna packets I always have those on hand. Quest chips they have 20 grams of protein. Quest peanut butter cups I don't eat those for the protein. All of these items that I said up until the peanut butter cups were basically focused on protein or have a good amount of protein. The Quest peanut butter cups do not, but they're something that I can take with me and they have a little bit of protein and less calories, less carbs, so better than grabbing them from a concession stand at a basketball game, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

And then rice cakes are something that I have. I probably have four of those a day. Always chocolate, and I'm always going to put some chocolate hummus on top or peanut butter or top it with something fun. So those are just a few staple foods that I have, and those are sweeter. Those are not dinner or lunch options. Those are just kind of like snacky foods that I will have every single day.

Speaker 2:

If you have three meals a day, perfect. Take your protein goals. So for me it's 120, 125 grams of protein per day. I'm going to have to divide that by three and that's how much protein I'm getting in each one of those meals to hit my goals. I personally don't do that. I love my snacks, so I make my snacks count as well. Goals I personally don't do that. I love my snacks, so I make my snacks count as well. So my snacks are high in protein.

Speaker 2:

So now I break it down into my breakfast options. For me personally, I'm either having Kodiak oatmeal and right now I'm having the 20 grams of protein option Again. Why am I going to have oatmeal with 12 grams of protein when I can have it with 20 grams of protein and it has the same amount of carbs pretty much. So I'm having the high protein Kodiak oatmeal, or I'm having a protein shake with a banana, or I'm having eggs and toast and you can have other sides with that as well. That for me. Those are my breakfast options every day and almost every day I'm having a Kodiak oatmeal. Also, when I first wake up I mix my supplements together and I have two chocolate rice cakes to help that go down the hatch and help me to not feel shaky, because I do have a little pre-workout in there. But after that it's on to my breakfast and almost every single time I'm having Kodiak oatmeal or a Kodiak mug cake cup. Sorry, kodiak cake cup, I forgot about those. I haven't had those in a while, but those are my breakfast options. That's it.

Speaker 2:

Unless we're out of town, unless we're going out to eat something like that, those are my options for breakfast. So figure out a couple options for breakfast and figure out what do you want. That's it. Then you don't have to think about it, right? Do I want cereal? What kind of cereal? Do I want waffles? Want a shake? Do I want eggs? No, I have three options, that's it. Pick one, move on with my day.

Speaker 2:

For afternoon snacks, I'm having a Greek yogurt or a protein bar or my protein shake or Quest chips, probably having two snacks within the day. So two of those are going down with my snacks For my lunch. Personally, right now I'm having either a salad I've been having a salad with just lettuce and then I'm adding rotisserie chicken, turkey pepperonis Obsessed with those right now. It's just a tiny bit of protein added Tomatoes, cheese and some really good dressing. I'm having that. Or I'm having tuna packets. I will mix two. I've talked about this before and it's gone well with my clients Two tuna packets mixed. I open them, put them both packets into a bowl, I put some hummus and salsa on top, just glob it right on top, put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and then I use it as a dip for chips. You could also make like a high protein buffalo chicken buffalo dip. You could make any kind of dip. You could have some like high protein pasta salad or something.

Speaker 2:

I have a sandwich. I'm either having that salad, the two tuna packets with chips still my protein and my carb or I'm having a turkey sandwich if I'm feeling super lazy or I'm just having dinner leftovers. So those are my options for lunch right now. When I get sick of those I'll come up with new options, but right now, if it's lunchtime, those are my options. I have three to four options. That's it. What do I want? I'm not second guessing it. I'm not like oh, that doesn't sound good, I'm eating. It Doesn't matter, it's fueling my body. I'll feel great after I'm going to wash it down with an energy drink and move on Again.

Speaker 2:

My evening snacks are basically Greek yogurt. I was using my Ninja Creamy a lot during the summer and that was my other option for summer. But I'm not right now because it's freaking cold here, so pretty much just Greek yogurt or a Kodiak waffle. I love the thick and fluffy Kodiak waffles. I toast them and I put a little cherry pie filling on top with some whipped cream so freaking good. Sometimes that'll be my breakfast as well, with some turkey bacon, so you can flip and flop these. Okay. Breakfast as well with some turkey bacon, so you can flip and flop these. Okay. But that's my snack in the evening when I'm wanting to open a bag of Oreos and go to town on them. That's not my options.

Speaker 2:

Right now. I'm having a Greek yogurt with some chocolate chips in it, or my Kodiak waffle. You can, like I said, put cherry pie filling on it. You can just put whipped cream on it. You can use syrup, you can put a couple of chocolate chips on it, mix it up, put stuff in your Greek yogurt, put stuff in your protein shake, use your Quest chips to scoop out the tuna packets with the hummus. Be creative, right? The Quest chips, too. You can cut off the side and use as a walking taco bag. That's so freaking good too.

Speaker 2:

And then dinner all of the things that I listed for my breakfast, my two snack options, midday snack and late snack and lunch. That'll pretty much get me to my protein goal. So dinner can be anything that fits and I usually try to get 20 grams of protein. So I can log all that stuff. I can scan the UPCs. It's in my fitness pal. It's super freaking easy to just click it for every day of the week because I know I'm having most of those things every single day of the week. What flavor Greek yogurt, I don't know. What flavor shake, I don't know what bar, I'm not sure. Which chips I don't know right, so I can mix it up and it's different every day, but it's the same item, okay, so I'm not getting bored Not very easily anyway. So dinner can be anything with chicken, steak fish, you can steak fish, you can have tacos, you can have bowls, you can have wraps, you can grill it, you can put it on a burger like whatever right, any kind of high protein meat that you want, and just mix it up. That way it's a little more flexible with your family and yourself and your goals. So this is how I personally have survived the repetition First of all, learning to love the repetition, realizing that being stuck in a cycle of always needing something flashy, always having to come up with brand new meals and ingredients and all the things.

Speaker 2:

It's a waste of time. I'm sitting on Pinterest for a freaking hour or two every weekend. I used to looking at recipes and I'm like for what? Nobody even eats this in my family. I'm not making this. I'm not doing this anymore.

Speaker 2:

Figure out what your family likes, figure out what you like. Realize food is fuel and realize that the less time, like I said, you spend thinking about these things and honestly doing them. It doesn't take much time to prep some Greek yogurt. I just open it and throw some chocolate chips in it. So I'm not wasting my time, I'm not wasting my energy, I'm not wasting my thoughts. I'm just doing what I need to do and moving on with my day.

Speaker 2:

But, like I said, a lot of the things that you will see if you pay attention are new things and you think do I need that? Do I want that recipe? Oh, that looks good. I wonder if I have time to make that. It's taking your time and your energy and your thoughts away from what's important.

Speaker 2:

So stay focused. Learn to love the repetition. Repetition is just that redundancy that makes it habitual, that makes it part of your life, that makes it a lifestyle. So learn to love it. Kind of spin your outlook on it and think of it as something freaking great instead of stupid, because a lot of times I hear that like this is so stupid. I've been doing this forever. I've been eating this one thing forever. Good, I continue to do that, please. Food is fuel, so I hope that was helpful. Again, just here, to unfuck all of this for you and just be real and let you know what you need to focus on to hit your goals. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please share on your social media. Send me a message. I love talking to you and I will talk to you next week.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to today's show. Go ahead and leave a rating and a review and, of course, follow the podcast so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And I would love it so much if you came to connect with me over on Instagram at Christy Castillo Fit. I will see you next time.