The Unf*ck Your Fitness Podcast

211. Fall Energy Shift: Mindful Motivation, Intentional Routines & Gaining Control Again

• Kristy Castillo

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Fall has officially arrived! 


Even though it’s not the start of a new year, it somehow “feels” like one, you know? There’s just something about this season that feels fresh, intentional…and grounding. 


I’ll be honest - I’ve always been (and always will be) a summer girl! I looove all things summer, and I’ve really worked on shifting my mindset to not “dread” fall (because honestly, winter and the cold is what I really dread).


I’ve started leaning into what fall actually offers: structure, rhythm, and a sense of calm that fuels growth. The cooler weather alone helps regulate your nervous system, and fall creates a powerful “fresh start” effect (this has been sooo noticeable for me)!


If you’ve been feeling that pull to reset your workouts, nutrition, or mindset, this is your sign to do it NOW. You don’t need to wait for January to shift from chaos into intentional action with your life.


This is the season to slow down with purpose, and actually DO the sh*t you said you’d do this year. Decide what matters for you, get laser-focused, and pour your energy there so you CAN be excited (and in control) as we head into the holiday season!


Episode recap:

  • My past mindset and struggles with the fall season
  • The real reasons fall feels both calm AND motivating
  • How the “fresh start” energy of fall impacts motivation 
  • Simple shifts to help you transition from summer chaos to fall intentionality
  • How to assess your mindset, time management & what’s actually fueling you right now
  • Why clarity, purpose & focused action matter MOST in this season


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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Unfuck 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_01:

Hey guys, what's up? I might have to record this episode and I guess I should say edit this episode and put it up on video for you guys to see because I'm wearing my Freddie Freeman Dodgers t-shirt and my Dodgers hat. I'm in the in the thick of baseball season. Big old Dodgers fan. So I just thought it was funny. I'm recording, obviously looking at myself and I'm just like think I might look a tad ridiculous or super cool. However, however, whatever team you're rooting for, depending on, you're gonna think I either look ridiculous or I look super cool. So I love it, but it's just kind of funny. My outfit choices are just funny sometimes. But anyway, welcome to today's episode. I'm excited to dive into this because it has some tips, of course. And it also is a lot of just talking through things because I want to talk about fall. And I want to talk about the fall season. I want to talk about fall vibes. I want to talk about why it feels like a fresh start, even though it's not the beginning of the year. And so it feels like this in-between time. I've I've talked to so many people over the last years, years and years, about this season. And for me, I'll be honest, up until this year, when I really had a long, hard talk with myself about a lot of things this year and just my mental space. But I love summer. I love sunshine. I love being outside. I love tank tops, I love sunshine and water and wearing bikinis and being hot and just I love summer vibes. I just love it. So fall for me signified in my brain, fall signified winter's coming. So I live in Michigan. So fall means weather is changing, it's getting colder. My head automatically skips from like September to the depths of January, where I am like depressed and you know, have seasonal depression, and I'm just I'm bored and I'm cold and my body aches and it sucks and I'm unmotivated and it's dark all the time. But for whatever reason, it was like I couldn't bring myself to the present to just enjoy fall. It just automatically was like, oh, it's fall, so it might as well be the shittiest part of winter. Just that's just how my brain worked my entire life. So this year I really thought, why don't we? Really, this is so genius. Why don't we try to enjoy fall? Why don't we take a little positive spin on it? Why don't we figure out what we need to do, Christy, to not think of it as such a negative and maybe have a different spin on it and kind of understand it? And for for me, this looked like really diving into good things about it. And why, why does it feel so motivating, but also so calm? I struggled with that a lot in years past too, where it feels like I feel really motivated in the fall to start my build workouts, to increase, you know, workouts, uh, to increase macros, and just I feel really, really motivated in the fall. The weather is nicer for running. It's honestly nicer to be in my garage and work out. So it made a lot of sense that I felt like physically I was like, yes, let's go, right? I have more routine, I have more time on my hands. And, but also feel so calm and chill and just like a vibe. So that's kind of confusing to me because I'm thinking if I feel calm and chill, I shouldn't feel motivated. But I did. And it just, it was kind of a mind fuck. But I I just really want to chit chat about it, but also give you some, I think, fresh perspectives on fall and also talk about why it is chill and why it also is motivating and some tips that you can take away from this episode as well, going into this fall season to really start feeling motivated while also embracing that calmness and how we can slow down a little bit to increase momentum now rather than waiting until January. So let's dive in. So for me, so here in Michigan, the weather is just kind of crazy this time of year. So a couple of weeks ago, it was actually around the time that I went to Iowa to visit my best friend Jenna, and which would have been probably the beginning of September. I'm not even sure. But right around that time, it started to feel a little chilly here. So I thought, well, fall is coming. Fall is here, it has arrived. Here we go. It's all downhill from here, baby. But seriously, I thought, okay, I'm gonna put away, you know, get all my summer clothes out of the closet, put them in downstairs in my tubs and pull up my fall clothes and revamp the wardrobe. And like, here we go. You know, we've got to start kind of decorating for fall. We've got to start getting the outside cleaned up and, you know, plants taken out and flowers trimmed, all the things. So it was, it was chilly for about a week. And then bam, summer was back, like with a vengeance. It has been, I mean, it's the beginning of October right now, and it's been almost 90 every day for the last, I don't know, two weeks. Like it's just been so hot and I'm loving it. Don't get me wrong, but I I know it's it's gonna change here. But for me, like lately, it's been getting darker earlier. So I have to do my walks in the morning or earlier in the afternoon, and it's been hot. So I've been out walking behind the house along the corn line that I walk or on my walking pad or out around town a little earlier. So I've had to already kind of shift the timing that I'm doing things. But, you know, I've been able to wear a hoodie and I've been able to buy some fall candles and I've been able to get some little bath and body works wallflowers, whatever they're called. So, you know, kind of make the house seem a little fallish, but also it's been hot. So I'm doing my summer thing. So that's kind of how I've been, you know, kind of chilling and moving into the season. For me, also, I mean, you know, if you're a mom, your kids go back to school in the fall, you have more routine in the fall, whether you have sports or practices or just school and not so much chaos, right? We're not running around just a free-for-all like summer and traveling and all the things. We're kind of home and it feels a little more calm. I'm wanting to cook a little bit and bake a little bit and watch baseball games and watch football games and just like have that vibe shift. And so that's why it feels a little more cozy and just everything's kind of back in place. And I really thrive in that environment. I love summer. Like I said, I love the chaos of it. But towards the end of summer, even though I love it and I am a summer like baby at heart, I'm ready for some structure. Like I am just so ready for a certain time to wake up and a certain time to go to bed and just really getting back on track. Like I really, I really thrive on that. So that's something that I really look forward to. So that's just kind of a little bit about how I've been feeling lately. It's it's that fast-paced, scattered energy from summer and going into more of an intentional. I've been feeling like a lot more intentional, a lot more cozy feelings, a lot more grounded. And I've been talking about this on my weekly updates on Instagram. Make sure you're following me at Christy Castillo Fit. I've been sharing just weekly, I was calling them Wednesday updates, and now I'm just calling them weekly updates because I couldn't commit to Wednesday because whatever, this last Wednesday was crazy. And I'm like, yeah, I can't commit to a day for things. That's just not how I roll, apparently. But my weekly updates, I've been talking in there about how I've just been very intentional about kind of some time blocking and being more intentional. I mean more, I've been intentional about being more intentional and being present and really being good with my time, not being on my phone as much. And if I am on my phone, making sure that it's something I actually need to be consuming, not just shit and scrolling and chasing that dopamine. Like it's okay to take some deep breaths, it's okay to be bored, it's okay for the house to be quiet. It's okay for my brain to literally think of nothing. Like just to be, and I mean, yeah, just to be more calm and going for walks and, you know, figuring out my workout plans and just writing things down and thinking ahead instead of just being so scattered. So that's been really, really nice, but it feels like a reset to me. Fall always feels like a reset to me. We had a reset week, two weeks in Fit Club, uh just a little while back, probably the beginning of September, where it just I wanted everybody to just slow down in Fit Club and not hustle, just go for walks and do some deep breathing and do some stretching and you know, really ease into fall. So we did that a couple of weeks ago. But for me, I always feel like it's that instant, like, oh shit, fall is here. It's September, school falls here. And then a few weeks later, like now, I feel like, okay, now I'm able to really soak in fall and and what it means rather than rushing into it and feeling like, oh shit, it's here. I'm behind schedule. I have to hurry up and get caught up. So that's kind of why I wanted to talk about this now. In case you're like me, you probably are. A lot of you, we like each other because we are like each other. But yeah, I feel like it just when that's happening, I'm I'm instantly feeling rush, rush, rush still. And now I feel like I'm in more of this grounded state. And so I want to talk about it. One thing that I wanted to talk about in some depth is why fall feels calm and motivating, like I just talked about a minute ago. It's confusing to me because I feel so motivated, but I like I feel motivated to kick ass in my workouts, to lift heavy, to get up earlier, to get my walkouts or my walks in earlier in the morning and my workouts just I feel really motivated to push harder in the gym physically, but I also feel very calm. And it, I just didn't understand that. For me, it was just, it's a mismatch. And so I had to dive into it. Well, what I've kind of I've listened to other podcasts kind of about this too, and I've kind of brought my feelings together because I'm like, oh, that is an interesting take. And then I'll think about it. That's just what I do. I hear something, I think about it, I make it make sense to me, and then I talk about it. So one thing that I thought about was the rhythm's return, which is what I just talked about the rhythm, the return or the routine. I really need that. So, like all that free-for-all energy, that go, go, go, the vacations, the late nights, the no schedule, the what the fuck is going on here every day, summer feelings. Fall brings structure. It brings that routine and it brings rhythm. And I thrive with that. So probably a little bit of that, oh, I'm thriving here. This feels really good, even though it's more chill. It feels good and it makes me motivated to do more. So that made more, that made a lot of sense to me. Kids are back in school, the work routines return, not so much mumbo jumble, right? We can get on schedule with groceries and with house cleaning and all the things. And it just makes sense again. So life has that rhythm and the rhythm creates emotional regulation, which brings calm. So when I was kind of reading through things and I saw that note, I thought, yeah, that that tracks because that was the piece that was missing for me. It was like, why do I feel so calm? But I also feel like, fuck yeah, let's go. I'm ready to do this. And that's why it's because my I was more regulated emotionally. So I have more space emotionally, mentally, to kind of kick some ass. So that made a lot of sense. So that rhythm brings emotional regulation, which brings a calmness, which then makes us feel more organized and ready to go. We're not so scattered that we can actually slow down and do more, which makes sense. And then at the same time, that structure frees up that mental bandwidth, like I said, which makes room for that motivation. So all of that together made so much sense to me. And that was nice because I kind of need to understand myself. I don't know if anybody else is like that, but like I need to understand why I'm feeling a certain way to be able to act on feeling a certain way. I don't know. That may or may not make sense, but I think there's just something about knowing what your week looks like again and your brain relaxes and suddenly you want to do things because you have more time. It makes more sense. You can plan ahead a little bit, and that feels really good. I think another reason why this little phenomenon in my brain makes sense is because the cooler weather does equal kind of that nervous system reset. So our bodies are more comfortable in this cool, crisp air than in the overstimulating heat. As much as I love summer and going out and doing things, I'm like so tired when I get done that I don't want to work out. I don't want to do anything. I'm just, I want to go out and enjoy the hot weather, but afterwards you're drained. So fall naturally slows down our nervous system and less sweating, better sleep, better focus. That sense of calm gives you more access to more motivation, creativity, and more drive. So that made a lot of sense to me too. It's like my body finally steps trying to survive summer and it feels grounded again. Towards the end of summer, I'm like, is this ever gonna end? Are we ever gonna have a routine again? And finally I start to feel a little more grounded. And that's what that means a lot to me. This note here, it's kind of like this psychological, fresh start effect. I heard this on a podcast recently and I thought, this is genius. Like, this is so me. So what they were talking about is fall triggers a temporal landmark, like a birthday or a Monday that makes people feel like it's a new chapter. Totally me. So this back to school energy was something that I had heard of too. It's not just for kids, it's for adults too. But we've been kind of trained mentally. I mean, I always went back to school at the end of August, beginning of September. So I, you know, I think that's just ingrained in our bodies of oh, this is time for school. It's time for a fresh start and new planners, clean notebooks, new workouts. It's like your brain sees everything the same, right? When I was little, I'd go get a new planner. Now I get a new notebook to journal all my thoughts going into the fall and new workouts and new macros and new things for clients. And my brain sees it like it's a total blank page. And that feels really good too. It's like a fresh start with fresh energy, and it feels so, so good. So I kind of think about it as fall is like that clean slate energy, but with the wisdom and with the events that you've already been through this year. So it's like it feels like a fresh start, but it feels also like a familiar place where I feel like January is like this is a fresh start. It's all new. Fall feels like a fresh start, but you're like, and we're just gonna kind of add on to the whole year. Like take the whole year we've already been through and like shift it and tweak it. And I there's nothing I love more than taking something and shifting it and tweaking it. Pivoting is my jam. You already know that. And then another thing is just seasonal slowing equals clarity. I thought that was a good kind of combination. Fall encourage us to slow down, but not in a lazy way, which that was the confusing part for me, too. It's more of a focused, intentional way. And that's exactly how I feel was that I don't feel like I'm being lazy at all. I actually feel very productive, but I also feel very calm and relaxed, which is not something I'm used to. Not at all. But there's also less social pressure, fewer events, earlier sunsets equals more time to reflect and plan. So I feel like getting up early is like, oh, this feels so good now. The sun is going away earlier in the evening, but in the morning, I'm up, I'm ready with the time change, especially. When that happens, it'll be brighter out early. So there's more time for that. And I feel like that is part of fall that I really like too, once you have that morning time. And it also invites that mindfulness that, and along with mindfulness for me anyway, comes action. So I wanted to just dive into that a little bit because it it was just such a weird vibe. So, anyway, to moving on from that concept of just why it feels calm and motivating, because while diving into that, I thought that was so cool that it just had that I maybe that I wasn't crazy. Just like, why does fall feel like the most chill, vibey time of the year? But also I'm so like rearing to go. It just it was foreign to me. But I know a lot of people love fall. So I think this will just be added on. And I'm excited to kind of not, what do I want to say? Yeah, not be excited for it to be over this year. Although I probably will be decorating for Christmas really, really early this year because my husband and I are going on a trip and my daughter and I always want to decorate early. So it's not, I'll be enjoying fall with Christmas decorations inside. I don't know. So I want to talk about this concept as well of fall as a new start. So the first thing I wanted to talk about was just my own feelings about fall, right? What's kind of going on in my head, why I wanted to create this episode, why I feel like it's important to talk about it. That's the first thing that I wanted to talk about. The second thing that I want to talk about is fall as a new start. Like I was just saying, it's it feels like it's a new start, but with all of the experience and wisdom that we have from the year, instead of just January being a literal fresh start, a lot of people just think, well, it's already fall. I've already messed up my intentions for the year and I set my New Year's resolutions and I've already failed at them and I didn't lose any weight and I didn't start a new workout program and I look the same and I nothing's changed and we can kind of get into that mode really quickly and just wait until January. And I wanna, I want to encourage you to look at fall as a new start in a in a really, really positive way, almost like a slow start because you don't have to do it all now. It's just kind of really getting ready and kind of acting on this, kind of taking advantage of this motivation because I don't know about you, but I feel like a lot of women feel the most motivated in the fall. And this is something that's not talked about very often. So I would love to hear some comments on Spotify or DM me or wherever you can find me. We don't feel as motivated in January as we feel in the fall. So we wait until January and we think fresh start holidays will be over, we'll hit the ground running in January. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm freaking tired in January. I had just gotten through Thanksgiving, I've just gotten through Christmas, everything's crazy. The weather sucks, it's cold, it's shitty, there's snow, no thank you. I don't like it. So in January, I think, oh, it's January, great, fresh start, new year, new me, all those corny sayings. But then it's like, I don't even want to get out of bed in January. So I feel like a lot of women feel that way. And I think it's just time for us to embrace it, quite honestly. So that's what we're gonna do here. But I feel more motivated now than I do in the fall. And I think that the fact that I've always been more productive, but also more chill, because even though I, even though I didn't like fall and I didn't, I wasn't appreciative of it. And I always thought, oh shit, here we go. I'm just like basically looking forward to summer. Screw the rest of the year. I've always been very productive this time of year. Even though I'm like, well shit, summer's over and I feel depressed already. I'm still gonna do the things. And so I I never really knew why, nor did I care. I just did them. But it's because I feel very motivated. I feel very, I've always like, this has been the time of year when my kids go back to school. And this is why we feel more motivated. I think. Let me talk about that. I feel like women feel more motivated. I can't speak for men just because I'm not one and I'm not really friends with many. We don't talk about these things. I talk to men, we don't talk about this. It's like, we're not, I'm not like, hey, do you feel motivated in the fall? I guess I don't really ask anyone that, but my clients, right? I feel like kids are in school, our schedules are more stable. We're craving some routine. We're done with the chaos of summer, and we want clarity and structure. This is the time where we're like, yes, let's fucking go. I feel free. My kids are in school. I'm like so ready for some for yeah, like a schedule that like we feel motivated right now. And perhaps men feel the same way. Couldn't tell you. But I know for women that's true. And so why not think of this time as a fresh start? And then yeah, you can also think as of January as new year or new me. But right now, let's think of fall as a fresh start. Like, this is it. Let's start, let's, this is a new starting place. Okay. This is what we're doing now. So this is your permission to start fresh without waiting for a Monday or the new year. This episode's gonna come out on a Tuesday. So if you listen to it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, if you're a scraggler and you listen to it on Friday, you're like, sorry, Christy, I'm a little behind. Totally fine. But let's not wait until the Monday. Let's not wait until January. Let's start now because fall is such a good moment to realign with your priorities. So I think that is a perfect realization to just think about. Now I want to talk about shifting from summer mode to fall mode. And yes, I know this is just kind of gliding into it right because that's what I want this to feel like. I want this episode to glide from summer to fall. And I want your shift from summer to fall to be so fluid that it's just like we're grounded, we're moving and grooving, we're cutting out the shit and we're figuring this out. So if you want to think of the contrast from summer mode to fall mode, you can think of summer as being chaotic where fall is more grounded. Summer is travel events, travel and events, I should say. Fall is more structure and rhythm. Summer is survival mode where fall is intentionality, and summer is like shorts, margarita vibe, which hell yeah. And fall is journals and hoodies and fires and s'mores, right? And cozy. So fall is a time to declutter your physical space and your calendar and your mind. Whereas summer is like, oh, summer's here. Let's go do anything and everything that we can and cram everything in because this weather's not gonna stick around, right? The kids are off school. Like we've got to go do all the things. And that is so fun. And that's the whole purpose in my mind of summer. Like, let's do all the things. But now I'm really like instantly. I'm like, I want to shampoo carpets, I want to vacuum every day, I want to clean out my physical space, like I want to clean bookshelves, I want to clear out my closets, I want to clear out bathroom shelves, game closets, like just everything. I want to clean it all. I got rid of calendars. I got new calendars that are like mid-year to mid-year. I got some of those. I'm erasing all of my whiteboards. Like I am just clearing everything out because all of that clutter being cleared out physically declutters your mind. And so I want you to think about that and really start to declutter things. If you see something and you're like, that space needs clean, turn on some music, turn on a podcast, and like, let's do it. Like, I can't stress enough how much a shift from summer to fall being fluid has to do with cleaning and changing and just changing that energy and changing the vibes. And then think about the fact that you're not starting over, you're reconnecting with the version of you who thrives with structure. So, yes, I want to think of this as like we're starting new this time of year. Like this is a new, this is a new start, if you want to think of it that way. I do. I think of fall very much as, okay, it's build season. So I'm getting new macros, new foods, new workouts, new purpose with my workouts. I'm hitting my steps intentionally. I'm changing things up, I'm clearing spaces, I'm cutting flowers, right? I'm getting everything ready to kind of go dormant in the winter and then spruce back up in the spring. Same thing with your space, same thing with your mental space, same thing with your time. Really figuring out those types of things to be able to, I guess, just think more clearly, which is really nice. Like organization is something that I think is is really, really huge. So let's bring this into our fitness and routine reset. We'll call this. Okay. This is a perfect time to start a new training phase. Highly encourage you to get into my fit club. It is so amazing. And every four weeks you get a set of new workouts and they're scheduled for you, and there's hit in there, and there's core work, and there's some sprintervals, and there's it's it's repped out, it's sectioned out. So you know when to increase weights. There are group chats in there. There are so many ladies inside of there that are crushing it and have the same goals. But starting a new training phase with purpose is so, so important. So get into a new program, get into a new gym, get around new people, whatever you need to do to get into something new for your training, because that's gonna spice things up. If you're just doing the same thing over and over and over all year long, it's gonna get kind of boring. So it's time to spice things up and get into a different phase with your training and with your goals. Recommit to lifting. If you've just been doing cardio for the summer, you've just been running, swimming, biking, right? And you've just like, I'm not gonna go to the gym because I have the kids are home and it's crazy. Like you just talked about, it's a total free-for-all. I don't know what the hell is happening from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. That's fine. But now recommit to your lifting, grow some muscle, eat for muscle, get some supplements to grow muscle. We want some EAAs, we want some creatine. Like, really, really focus on lifting. Change up your mental, uh, your mental game as far as your fitness. Like, this is time to dial in on like building muscle and lifting some weight and getting strong. That needs to be your mentality. Also dialing it in with your macros. You don't need to go extreme. I've been talking about this on my weekly updates again on Instagram. I'm not tracking my macros yet. No, I tracked my macros for years and years and years. So I have a lot of food freedom and I have I have a lot of knowledge around that. I know exactly what to eat to hit my macros in a roundabout way, and I'm not trying to be obsessive. But dial in your macros. Cut out the shit that you've been eating all summer. Drink more water, see where you can make some shifts. What are you eating daily that you can cut out? What are some swaps that you can make to be healthier? But really dial in. Like this is time. You have time now. Don't waste it. Like, let's really focus on this because these next few months, if you start new now and you start a new program and you start tracking macros, oh my gosh, by Christmas, you'll you'd be a whole new person physically if you really, really dial the fuck in, okay? And then feel strong and in control. Like I said, heading into the holidays, you will feel strong and you will feel in control, but you have to reframe it. And this is the part that I want to make very clear. You have to reframe this as building momentum now. So if you need to slow down a little bit to purchase a program, figure out your macros, find some stable foods, start tracking again. Do that now. Figure out what time you have. Don't fill it with being on your phone all the time and watching new TV shows and just messing around all day. Like be intentional here and figure out what I can do now. Slow down a little bit so that you can gain momentum. Because even planning, clearing things out, buying new foods, clean out your pantry, clean out your refrigerator, make it nice, buy new foods, right? Like get really focused on what the fuck do you want for these next few months? And you can really, really build momentum. So build muscle, eat to build muscle and build momentum instead of waiting for January, because these are very crucial months if you know how to use them. Yeah, I mean, where there's what, I don't know, 10 weeks until like the holidays, which is insane. I mean Christmas. So yeah, that's a long time when you think about it. And this time of year used to be really overwhelming for me, and not really physically because my workouts and stuff are pretty much on lock. I've got those dialed in, but as far as everything else, right? Because it's gonna get busy. So the more you can get on structure now, the more you can get on routine and in a rhythm now, we'll make Christmas shopping and Christmas foods and Christmas parties and all of that. Like if you take these next eight weeks to get really locked in, you'll feel a lot better and in control over the holidays. So, number five, the fifth thing I want to talk about is mindset and time management. So, this is also the season to organize your time and your energy, which I was just talking about. A couple simple ways to do that are to assess the areas that you want. Well, I guess the first thing I would say would be to assess the areas you wanted to improve on this year. And did you improve them? So when you made New Year's resolutions, when January was here and you thought, okay, this is my year, I'm gonna lose. 20 pounds, this is how I'm gonna do it. Or maybe you didn't even get that far. You just said, I'm gonna lose 20 pounds and I don't know how, but I'm gonna wish, I'm gonna hope for the best. Think about the things. I want to get out of debt. I want to spend more time with my kids. I want to fill in the blank with what you wanted to do. Take an assessment there on those areas. Did you improve on those things this year? And if not, why? Were you lazy? Did you just not plan well? Did you just get off track? Did life blow up in your face? Like what happened? Not to beat yourself up, but to really think about okay, I had this whole year. It's now October. What did I do with it? Do I do that every year? You know, let's kind of assess things here and get real. And then I think taking an assessment too of like what you want to do going forward. I think, you know, you'll just waste the rest of the year if you're not careful. And so I really want this motivational time of year to, I want you to be able to max out and really make the best of it. So assess the areas you wanted to improve on this year. Another thing that you can do for time management is time blocking. Truly look at your day and plan it out. Time blocking has been something that's been very important to me. Now, you know, I know if I do get up with my alarm, this is what my day is going to look like. I know if I don't get up with my alarm, this is what my day is going to look like, but I have time blocked out for things. And if I don't get those things done, I have to go on to the next time block. I can't, I can't just make a schedule for myself for the day and then screw it up because I'm lazy or I didn't plan effectively or I'm on my phone or whatever and then make time for those things later. No, I have, I, I made a schedule and I need to start to stick to it. So time blocking is really, really helpful. You have a certain amount of time set aside for meal prep or for a walk or to call a friend or to hang out with your kids or to grocery shop, clean your house, work out, whatever it is, fucking do it. Time block and do the shit that you're supposed to do in that block. I mean, it's really, there's no other, there's no other way to really get around it. People, and I'm no, I'm no genius here. Either I procrastinate or I'm a slacker, like, don't get me wrong. But when people are like, how do you get more steps in? What are your tips on getting more steps in? Um, well, I mean, you have to just get up and walk. So you either have to get off your phone. That's the that's the biggest thing I think that I would say is like, I don't have time to go for a walk. And this is a little rant that I could go on for a very long time, but I don't have, well, that's not true. I do have time to walk. We all have time to walk. What we do is mess around on our phone or stay too long at work or spend too long on a project or get to doing something else that we don't need to do necessarily. I mean, we fold laundry instead of going for a walk or we literally do anything instead of our workout or whatever it is. But for walking specifically, I mean, I just have people like, how much time did you spend on Instagram? Unless you work on Instagram, which I do and I spend a lot of time on Instagram or on my computer. But if you don't work, if your job is not on Instagram, open the Instagram app on your settings. However, you find out how much time you spent on a certain day or a certain week on Instagram. And if it's not your job, what are you doing spending that much time on Instagram? Unless you're walking while on Instagram and getting some steps in, get off of it. Like get off of your phone and go get some steps in. Okay, so I usually say I walk about a 4.2 pace. I always say for me, for me, however fast I walk, I don't know how fast it is. I can get about 1,000 steps in for 10 minutes because I don't, whatever. If I walk for 30 minutes, it's around, it's a three thousand, usually it's a little more than 3,000 steps. But I'm just like, if you go for a 10-minute walk, every day you're gonna increase your steps by a thousand. And if you do that two to three times a day, don't tell me you don't have 10-minute intervals that you can't do three times a day to get 3,000 steps in. The problem is that you're just not planning on it. You either need to stay up later and get them in, you need to get up earlier and get them in, you need to find little breaks in your day. When you're like, oh, I'm so bored right now. I'm just gonna sit in my phone a little longer and scroll on my phone. Maybe while my kids at practice, I'm just gonna sit here and scroll on my phone or talk to the other moms. No, get up, go for a walk, move. Like it's it's not that hard. We all have time to get it in. I was gonna say, I don't have time either. I just make the time, but that's not true. I have the time. I just fill it with other shit that I don't need to do. So that's a whole nother thing that kind of pisses me off that I could rant about. But time blocking, okay? Figure out all the shit you need to do in a day. And you had plenty of time. Before we had phones connect to our hips all the time, I think we got a lot more shit done. Not saying you have to be super productive, but if you don't have time to work out and you quote unquote don't have time to go for a walk or do all the things you want to do, well, then figure it out. I think we're spending a lot of time on social media and places we don't need to be spending it. So, and then make space for what actually fuels you. It's not your phone either. Uh, that's not going to fuel you, but make space for friends or spending more time with your kids or playing a sport or taking up a new hobby or whatever. But, you know, do something that actually feels good to you. I think that helps a lot with your mindset when you're doing something good for yourself and mentally and physically that makes a big difference. Reconnect to your why. What are you building? What are you building? What kind of life do you want? What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of business do you have? What kind of body do you have? Who are you at the end of the day? Reconnect to that because this can be a huge push at the end of the year in that new start. And then this is a season to slow down with purpose. Slow down with purpose. I love that because a lot of times slowing down feels like we suck, like we're failing. And that's not true. It's it's not a time to stop and just wait till the new year. It's a time to refocus. Focus. Can't stress that enough. Slow down with purpose and focus. When you slow down, you have more room in your brain to think and then you feel more motivated. So we have to slow down and we have to make space in our brains. Okay. So go for a walk, like I said, with and listen to a podcast or music, not just like Instagram and you're scrolling on your phone while you're walking. That's better than nothing. But let's let's give our brains some space. Okay. We need that. I heard a quote the other day that was diluted focus creates diluted results. So if your focus is very, very small and messy and milky and busy, and there's this like, I'm kind of focused, then you're gonna get kind of results. Your results are gonna be milky, they're gonna be half-assed, they're gonna be messy. We don't want that. So get very, very focused, and then you will get results that are very, very good. And you can do that by saying no to things that drain you or that don't align. So ultimately, I think let me let me re- let me go through these, just what we talked about. So I talked a little bit about what my year kind of looks like, why I wanted to talk about this episode, which I feel like is just very important because I want you to know where I'm coming from as well. We talked about why fall feels calm and motivating. And I hope those tips were very, very helpful because I freaking loved them, just understanding that. Number two was that fall is a new start because of those, because fall feels calm and it's motivating. It's a great time to think about fall as being a new start. Third, we talked about shifting from summer mode to fall mode, cleaning things out, the difference between summer mode and fall mode and how you're going to feel and how that should be very, very fluid. We talked about being intentional and decluttering your space. And then we talked about a fitness and routine reset. So being very, very specific about starting a new training phase, tracking your food again, build some momentum. And then we talked about number five was mindset and time management. So assessing those areas that you wanted to work on. Did you do well with that or did you not? And why? And then time block and stick to those blocks because the only way you're gonna get shit done is to make time to get that shit done. I know it seems very freaking simple, but so many of us, myself included, struggle with that. Make space for what actually fuels you and say no to things that drain you. We're done with that. We don't need that energy. You deserve better than that. You deserve to say no if you don't want to fucking do something so that you can stay home and focus because your diluted focus is creating diluted results. And that's why a lot of you feel stuck and stagnant, is because you're kind of focusing on a million things at once. And if you can cut a lot of that stuff out and get it more organized, you can really focus on a couple of things and do them really, really well. So start reflecting on this year and start moving very, very intentionally into fall. It's a very, very calm time. And now we know that being calm opens up space in our brains for us to feel more motivated. And I want us all to push through fall with some motivation and some really, really good energy. And then I also just want to encourage you to clean out something this week, either get those planners out and really re like refocus, do something tangible this week. That's what I want to leave you with is either cleaning something out physically, like a closet or your schedule or the refrigerator, like I said, the pantry, getting rid of old clothes that don't fit you anymore or that don't align with who you're becoming. Something like do something physical because doing something physical makes you feel accomplished. You can see a change. When I clean out my closet, I'm like, oh, this is so clean in here. Who is she? This is amazing. Or if I clean off my desk or I get rid of a bunch of papers that I don't need and I just am like carrying it all upstairs and throwing it in the trash. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful thing. Cleaning my garage makes me feel really happy. So clean, organize, restructure, journal, fill out those calendars and then act on it because ultimately we've got to focus, but we also have to take serious action. So I hope this was really, really helpful. The next couple of weeks, we are going to be talking about creating workout programs for yourself, how to do that for yourself, like really intentional on how to create those. We're going to be talking about meal planning, meal prepping. So I really want to, I really want to zone in on this time of year and give you some tips and even, you know, PDFs and tools to be able to help you through this time of year, because I really do want you to feel focused and to feel good and to feel not just productive, like, oh, I did so much today, but feel productive in being present and making changes and making lasting changes and seeing your habits change and seeing and feeling better and seeing and feeling your body change. There's just nothing like it. So that's that's our theme and our vibe for the next couple of weeks. So I hope you enjoyed this episode and I will talk to you next week.

SPEAKER_00:

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 episode. So much if you came to connect with me over on Instagram at Christy Castillo Fit. I will see you next time.