How To Find Your Motivation After Losing Momentum

Jeremy (00:00)
know that feeling when you're trying to take better care of yourself and things are going well, and all of a sudden you fall off track, even though you know exactly what you should be

We've all been there. It's tough to stick to those positive routines like exercising, eating well, sleeping well, managing stress, all that

even when we know how good it is for us.

Today we're gonna share the human side of our own struggle. We're gonna offer some practical insights for getting back on track when life gets overwhelming. So stick around, we'll try to spark your motivation to create healthy habits even when life gets chaotic.

Jeremy (00:54)
What's going on with you this week?

Zach (00:57)
I don't know Jeremy, what is going on with you?

No, actually the last the last few weeks I have been you know, I've had a lot of work stress. I've had a lot of you know, personal stress not like bad things or anything like that but just like lots of it and just lots of things on my plate and I And in the middle of it I squeezed in another trip to Disney World I went for the weekend for May the 4th because I'm a Star Wars nerd and the nerd I'm gonna just tell you what like I

Jeremy (01:27)
Of course you did.

Zach (01:30)
I'm a big Star Wars nerd. I had nothing on the folk that were there. The nerd level was off the charts and like I had goosebumps and my daughter standing next to me like, what's the big deal? And I was like, just let me cry. Just let me cry.

Jeremy (01:35)
I can imagine.

I'm sorry.

I'm surrounded by my people

Zach (01:50)
Fantastic. It was so good. I needed like that stress relief and so good. But like since I was doing it, I've been doing really good at the gym. Like April, I think I went back and calculated like I made it to the gym like 65 % of the week. So counting all the days in the month, I made it 65%. So that includes rest days and all kinds of good stuff.

Jeremy (01:55)
Yeah.

Nice.

Yeah, that's a big jump up from the zero that you had going there for a while.

Zach (02:17)
Oh yeah, no, I had more in April than I did January, February, March. So it was  I've gotten back and it's it was a little painful. and then everything. But in the last week now, like.  Had a bunch of things at work and like just,  you know, being in a new relationship. Now it's not new anymore, but a relationship and the time commitment there and.

Jeremy (02:21)
Nice, well done.

Zach (02:42)
my daughter and like all the things of life and like I usually can get a lot of things done and it doesn't bother me. But the last two weeks man, it is like, it's a lot.

Jeremy (02:45)
Yeah.

Right.

Brought you down to earth here with us mortals.

Zach (02:56)
Yeah, I don't know. It is weird because in the past, I was able to fill my day with more things than I guess the average person could do. And now it's...

Jeremy (03:06)
Why is that? That's weird. How are you able to pull that off?

Zach (03:10)
I don't know, it's just exceeded, it's exceeded the plate that I can fit it on.

Jeremy (03:13)
Was it all that I only have me to worry about most of the time that allowed you to be so productive?

Zach (03:16)
It's possible it is totally possible But getting up early in the morning stuff for me still like I'm having trouble with that. I haven't been sleeping as well. So Definitely a week of reflection for me and You know all the things that we do and why we do them and all that and I feel like I've come on for the last four months been like Hey, we do a podcast and we know all the stuff that we need to be or need to do to be healthy. I

And for the last three months, I haven't been doing it and I can't figure out why. And it's, you know, like that joke of like, you know, why can't I lose weight? Are you exercising? Are you eating good? No. No. and wonder why you're not losing. I wonder why my anxiety is high, right? My depression is fine. That's all good. Like anxiety is just off the charts like. And for anyone who.

Jeremy (03:56)
Are you sleeping, eating well, exercising? No, none of it?

Yeah. Yeah.

Zach (04:14)
has heard older episodes, like my anxiety, I have like physical manifestations of anxiety in my body. Like I get inflamed and my nerves start to fire and like I'll get like twitchy and like you can tell when my anxiety's firing really, really hard. And man, it's been going, like I've got one of my fingers have been twitching lately and like, you know, things hurt that don't hurt normally just because it's just there.

So it's been a really great week of, you know, we say it all the time, like we would always get upset when we have these, you know, these, these periods in our lives where we like revert back to things that we thought we'd outgrown or gotten away from when, you know, and you get pissed off. You're like, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta get back up. I gotta, I gotta do, I gotta do the thing. And I've just been telling myself the whole time. It's like,

Jeremy (04:56)
Yeah. Yeah.

Here it goes again. I thought I had this beat. Yeah.

Zach (05:12)
Hey, look, here is just another data point as to why you do all the things that you do. This is a good thing. This is a positive thing for you to experience this and reinforce and know that you've got a baseline of things that you have to do to stay happy and healthy. And you're gonna have an even longer period next time before you come down to this again. It'll happen again, but this is a good thing. So I'm really trying to, you know.

What's a see the good in every situation or something like that? Yeah, it's okay. Like it's it's it's not bad. Like it it definitely doesn't you know knowing that I can fix it and that I know what to do and that these are the things that are gonna make it better and it's gonna be slow and it's gonna be you know a little bit of a battle for me and I'm already moving in the right direction, right? I'm moving my body. I'm

Jeremy (05:41)
How's that working out for you? Yeah, that's okay. All right.

Zach (06:08)
I'm definitely eating better. I was I was definitely eating a lot of ice cream for a little while just to you know, a little stress eating or whoa, whoa is me medicine, I think. But but yeah, I'm just taking this opportunity to really try and soak it in and be like, you know what? This is why we do the things that we do and why you got to be consistent. You can't go to the gym once and expect to be strong. You got to go every day. You got to meditate every day. You got to practice your breathing.

Jeremy (06:14)
Yeah, that's good medicine right there.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Zach (06:37)
Every day all these things that we preach and like and I'm human too, right? I guess for a long time you held me up on a pedestal and thought I was some sort of God probably not But no

Jeremy (06:48)
You certainly seemed like you were up there, like kind of wanting to be acknowledged on the pedestal.

Zach (06:55)
I didn't want to be acknowledged, but I was really, I was in such a good, I was in such a good flow, I guess, for so long that I was like, well, I'll never have a moment like that again. And then, so I kind of was on a pedestal in that standpoint in my own mind. And I got knocked down hard and I'm just like, I gotta crawl back up now. And like, we're all human, we all fall over.

Jeremy (07:11)
Yeah, yeah.

Zach (07:23)
So don't beat yourself up when this shit happens.

Jeremy (07:25)
Yeah, it's so easy when things are going well and everything's awesome. You've got your system dialed in to sit there, you know, because people will tend to start asking like, you seem like you're doing great. What's going on? I'm up at 4 o 'clock in the morning and I do this and then this thing and then I go and run it, you know, run these 13 miles. And it just seems so simple because when you build it up, it becomes so simple. And it's just a part of what you do every day. But.

That's not the reality for most of us. For most of us, it is. It's the kids, it's the job, it's the nine to five, the commute, all of the things that get in the way. And then we wonder, God, why don't I have any time for self care? And it's like, because you've built this house of cards that's paying the bills, but that's about where it's ending, right? So you're super stressed out, you're exhausted, you don't know what to do. I feel like I'm kind of getting a taste of where you were, because for...

six months, I haven't been depressed, like I think maybe collectively, like two hours of the last six months, where it was every couple three weeks, I'd be out for a weekend, or, you know, multiple days. And it is because of all of the little things that I do every single day, and I'm, and I'm able to do more and more because I'm building a life that caters to that, that allows that to be the case.

Zach (08:23)
Mm -hmm.

Jeremy (08:41)
Not everyone has that luxury. Not everyone can just decide like, this is when I'm going to go sit in the sauna for 20 minutes. this is when I'm going to go get in the cold punch. this is when I'm going to go run in a mountain. Like I have the freedom to do that because of the life that I've built. But most people don't have that luxury. And that's where I think we get kind of stuck and really struggle to make that time for ourselves.

Zach (09:00)
Yep. And I'm not going to say that like I have introduced things into my life that are, you know, holding me back from doing that. I still have the time to do it. I've also been making the wrong choices over the last few months too. And like prioritizing things that I could get done later or shouldn't do in the first place. So, you know, it's just, I was sick, not thinking right. I've got like all kinds of reasons or...

Jeremy (09:14)
Yeah.

Zach (09:28)
Whatever there is. But now it's time to bounce back, right? And that's the important part is like, you will have setbacks. You're gonna have these moments where things go haywire, but that's your moment to really kind of dial in a little bit better and like, okay, where can I find the time? Where can I have a little bit of me time? To your point, you built the life that you have.

Jeremy (09:43)
Mm -hmm.

Zach (09:57)
So you can do these things, but that didn't take you six months. I mean, this is something you've been working on for six, exactly. Well, you've actually been putting effort into introducing all these things into your lifestyle over the last, what, four or five years, maybe?

Jeremy (10:04)
So far it took 47 years. So, you know. Right.

I mean, especially with with, you know, everything we did to relocate and everything. Yeah, it's been I mean, we're coming up on three years since we moved and add all of the wellness journey that stuff that started, you know, a decade before that. But with all this, I mean, this is the thing with all this. I was just talking to another podcaster about this the other day. None of the stuff that we do here that we talk about that like builds this life that we're so happy and proud of. None of its rocket science. None of its real hard. Right. It is. It's get enough sleep. Don't eat like complete garbage all the time.

move a little bit, like doing these little things every single day eventually accumulates and you find that, wow, I feel great and things are going better for me. But it's so hard to make that time for yourself and it's hard to.

know what the priority is. And there's so I mean, especially if you if you're like me, and you spend way too much time doom scrolling, all the advice you're bombarded with is like, which is the how do I optimize? What's the best thing? Which supplement is the perfect one? And how much sleep and how much do I need to lift and how often fucking just do something right? Like, start anywhere get curious about how can I

Can I get to bed 20 minutes earlier tonight? Can I sleep in 10 minutes later tomorrow? Can I add a glass of water to my routine? Whatever, just little crap. It is remarkable how much it builds up. And for me anyways, it's been building communities played a big part. Just having like -minded people to help push you toward whatever the thing is that you're trying to accomplish. If you're stuck with the same people that, I mean, you use the term holding you back.

That's a part of it. I mean, I think there are people that can't hold us back. But if you are on this journey with somebody, if you are alone, right, like you're the man in the arena, you're doing this thing by yourself, you can make your time a little more. You can devote the time you want to the things you want to devote it to. But when there is suddenly a partner, a wife, a husband, whatever, kids, you have to make those choices of what gets my time.

Can this thing wait? And a lot of times, at least for me, I think for a lot of guys, we tend to put our stuff later. Let's take care of everybody else first. And I just know that surrounding myself with people that are pushing towards something better, pushing towards healthier, has been huge. And I know...

I know I'm going to butcher this quote. I'm not probably not going to be able to finish it. But I remember my therapist talking about like, if you want to go somewhere fast, go alone. If you want to go somewhere that matters, like go with people. It's something like that where like, yeah, you can go farther faster alone. But if you want people to be on the journey with you, it's going to take a little longer because there are just more variables to account for in your day and your life to make sure that everyone's needs are met, not just yours.

Zach (12:56)
Yep, absolutely.

You hit on something there that really struck me too. It was like...

If you know you need to do something and like your doom scrolling, I mean, I added up the other day the number and cost of the things that I was convinced I needed for my bed. So I'm sure everyone's seeing like I'm getting bombarded with like the grounding sheets for your bed. My girlfriend runs.

Jeremy (13:20)
in.

yeah. Yeah.

Zach (13:31)
Cold and I run warm. So I'm like, well, here's a you know a thing for the bed You can put it on and like you can keep one side warm and the other side Cold I think I added up like all of these different products for like just for the bed was it was something like $12 ,000 worth of stuff and And every single one of them I found myself sitting there. that'll solve with the world hunger. That'll solve world They'll solve all my issues if I'm just grounded or Go for a fucking walk

Jeremy (13:37)
Sure.

Jesus Christ.

Yeah.

Right?

Zach (14:00)
Right? Like, when all of this stuff is hitting you, like, what's the most basic, simple thing that you can go do? Like, literally, go for a walk, and at some point during that walk, take your shoes off. Or, you know, some, like, there you go. You just got the benefit of, yeah.

Jeremy (14:13)
Yeah.

Hey, that's that's level two. Just go for the walk when you're ready to level up. Take your shoes off for a minute.

Zach (14:21)
Exactly. So I, and I, and I forget that like, I mean, you know me, right? It's, you know, whatever's the coolest, latest data centric, whatever. Like I'm like,

Jeremy (14:32)
Whatever can optimize so that nothing's left on the table.

Zach (14:34)
I mean, I'm all in. I've got, you know, I've got my Apple watch tracking on my left wrist and I've got a whoop band on my right wrist and my bed, my, the bed that I do have actually does track all of my sleep and I've got a ring that I wear as well. So when I'm sleeping, I have four things tracking all of my stuff. So like I get super complicated. I get like to that, but just go for a fucking walk. Like, I mean, even take it a step back further, like go walk out on the front porch and just breathe fresh air.

Jeremy (14:41)
All right.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

Zach (15:04)
Like when you're getting all that stuff and I get it too and like you're sitting there and you're like, I want to be better. I want to be better. And I don't know where to start. Like it is simple as that. Go outside, take, take a deep breath and walk around the block.

Jeremy (15:15)
Mm hmm. Yeah. There's a great quote from Ryan Holiday. I think he says something like, you know, taking a walk won't solve all of life's problems, but it certainly won't hurt.

Zach (15:26)
No, it definitely doesn't hurt. And honestly, I have found that all of these big things that I wanna do that I'm scared of, or I don't know if it's gonna work, or it's, you know, just, you know, ambitious, too ambitious, right?

Once I start small, like it makes me a little bit more comfortable to do that. Like if I can go successfully do a walk around the block, then I'll come back and be like, I probably could have run that. And then you run it and you're like, you know, I guess I could, you know, ride 10 times around on my bike and do that. Like it just, it all builds on each other. So if you just start at that bottom step, like you'll take another step, you'll take another step. But have you ever seen that picture where it's two ladders?

Jeremy (15:53)
Mm -hmm.

Zach (16:12)
And it's, you know, one guy standing at the left one and the rungs of the ladder are like a hundred feet apart. And then the neck, the one to the right of it, like the rungs are like inches apart. Right. And you see tons and tons of people climbing the other one and the guy's just standing at the bottom of the other one. That's what I'm picturing right now is like, you can't try and jump to, you know, you can't outfit your bed as a Tesla. Right. Just go for a walk.

Jeremy (16:19)
Mm -hmm.

Right.

Yeah.

Right.

That's that's coming next year. But I will say yes, totally agree with you. But but also I also think you're capable of more than you think you are. Maybe not you, because you think you're capable of quite a bit. But for most people listening, right, I think they are capable of more than they think they are. And again, using myself as an example, I started trail running like a month ago and, you know, the guy that was inviting me like I was picturing, we'll walk for a few weeks and then we'll add a few minutes of a jog here and there. No, like.

Like the first run we ran and the next run we ran a little further, like literally the next run. And had I gone out there by myself and said, Hey, I think I'm going to start this trail running thing. This will be really fun. That's the approach I would have taken. I would have walked for a month and then, you know, incorporated a little bit of a jog toward the end. Like I would have gone super slow, but because I, again, I have somebody in my community in my circle going, no, we can do that. Let's go. And if it's hard, we'll stop. No big deal.

Zach (17:19)
Mm -hmm.

Jeremy (17:40)
But it pushed me out of that comfort zone, pushed me beyond the limits that I thought I had to discover that I don't have them and in fact can go much farther than I thought I could. So yes, take the small steps, but like if you're not the kind of person to push yourself beyond your comfort zone, find someone who will, but can do it gently so that you can discover that you're actually capable of a lot more than you think you are.

Zach (18:06)
Yeah, absolutely. I see this all the time at the gym with myself, like just in like, you know, weightlifting or something like that. And, you know, coach will just come by and my favorite story ever was one of the coaches at the gym. We were doing something and I grabbed a pair of dumbbells and I was like, I think that's good. That's good. And we had to do whatever it was like eight times. And like you do it and then you take a rest and you do it and take a rest. And like I did it once. And the look the coach gave me, she would like,

She was like, had that like, shitty and grin on her face and she was shaking her head. And I finished it and she walked over with dumbbells that were like twice as heavy and put them on the ground and she's like, you're gonna use these. And I was like, So definitely surrounding yourself with people who are gonna push you is, I mean, yeah, sometimes I avoid that. Sometimes I just wanna go for the walk.

Jeremy (18:49)
Nice.

Yeah, and there's a place where there's plenty of times when I go into the gym and whatever the robot tells me if I can do that today, cool. But there's like yesterday, no, two days ago when I was in last, everything that was on my list, I was like, I can do more than that and just pushed like five or 10 heavier and was able to do it. And I was like, see, sometimes you just need a little shove. You need to just try. Can I do a little more than this? But, you know, tell me that seven months ago.

Zach (19:27)
Mm -hmm.

Jeremy (19:32)
Seven months ago, I didn't want to go out the door, right? Like depressed, miserable, felt like everything was was at the end. But because

Zach (19:39)
I was gonna make a comment that like, when you sent me the picture and said, I'm a trail runner now, like I very genuinely laughed in like a positive way for you because seven months ago I was like, I don't know where this is going. And now you're like, you know, cold plunging every day, trail running, because again, going back to it, you're doing all the things.

Jeremy (19:54)
Right.

Yeah, it was not in a good place.

Zach (20:09)
You're doing all the little things and it builds and you gotta be consistent. So hey, if no one has told you, I am proud of you and seeing a transformation in you going from, again, I mean, you weren't bottom of the barrel, you were close. I'm just kidding. But you...

Jeremy (20:27)
Mm -hmm. No, I was terrified. I was scared out of my mind.

Zach (20:32)
You've made such transformation just like again doing all the things that we talk about on the show So like you are literally living proof That what we talk about works and you can change your whole life with very small efforts Consistently period that's it. That's all you got to do

Jeremy (20:50)
Man, if only we could sell that.

Zach (20:52)
We should think about that.

Jeremy (20:53)
We should think about that. I think we've been thinking about it long enough, but it's the doing it part that keeps getting in the way.

Zach (21:00)
In the six years of doing the show, Jeremy, I think that's probably one of the first times I've ever said I'm proud of you and actually meant it.

Jeremy (21:07)
Yeah, I think we both had our moments of being completely full of shit, but but I'll take that one. Thank you. But yeah, I think that's enough of us for this week. Thank you so much for listening. If you've gotten any value out of this conversation and you think somebody else may as well, please hit that share button so they can hear it as well and help us reach more people that just need a push in the right direction to live a slightly happier life. You can do that today at the fit mess dot com. And that's where we'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Thanks for listening.

Zach (21:36)
See you, everyone.