Ep 85 | Fitness Matters More Now Than Ever
If you've been struggling to maintain your healthy eating habits or exercise routine lately, I want to start by saying this clearly: that makes complete sense.
We're living through extraordinary times. With the looming threat of fascism and state violence against civilians in our country, many of us are experiencing very real emotional stress, anxiety, and a sense of being overwhelmed. There's nothing wrong with you if getting to the gym feels impossible when you're doom-scrolling news updates. There's nothing broken about you if you're reaching for comfort foods when the world feels like it's on fire.
Your nervous system is responding exactly as it should to a genuine threat environment.
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Jayd (00:00):
Right now, your fitness journey is not only a necessity, but it can be a very powerful survival strategy because when everything else is out of your control, when you're experiencing high stress from your environment, what many psychologists and therapists suggest is that you focus on the things that you can control and the things that you can make progress on a very short-term basis when the big picture is overwhelming. Focusing on small wins that you can make within your own body, within your own life can be very powerful in giving you a sense of progress and moving forward. And that in turn can give you the confidence that you need to be a good community member and resist in a powerful way in your role. And one of the most powerful things that you can control is how you treat your body.
(01:07)
Welcome to The Coaching Corner podcast. I'm Jayd Harrison. I've been a personal trainer for over 10 years, and I've created this podcast to help you to build a body that you love without shame and without burnout. It's been a while since I've posted to the podcast and there's a good reason for that. If you are living in the United States during 2026, you'll know that this past year has been really hard. We are living in extraordinary times with the looming threat of fascism and state violence against civilians in our country. Many of my clients have really been struggling to feel motivated and stay consistent in their exercise plans. I've been pouring a lot of my focus and attention on developing new coaching programs to meet my clients where they're at in this moment and creating these programs has taken almost all of my focus in addition to the time that I've just needed to deal with and process what's happening in my country.(02:11)
Now, I'm saying all of this because the truth is that fitness is political. Self-care is political, and the mission of my business is to help people to be better and get better at taking care of their bodies and taking care of themselves. But the truth is that it's very hard, if not impossible, to make lifestyle changes, to eat better and exercise more when the very idea of safety in your community is at threat. And for many of us, that threat is a lot closer than others. If you're paying attention to what's happening with the iced detentions and violence against civilians and immigrants in this country and are horrified, dysregulated, and having a really hard time taking care of yourself. Yeah, that makes sense. See, our systems, our nervous systems are built to deal with a hierarchy of needs, and your feeling of safety in your environment is one of the primary foundational needs that has to be in place and addressed for you to be able to make the meaningful changes that you want to make.(03:29)
And also a lot of the ideas that you set out with if you wanted to start a fitness journey because you wanted to look better in a bikini. For many people that just kind of seems like not as important anymore. Who cares how I look like in a bikini when people are being gunned down in the streets, right? So what I want to present here in this podcast over the next few weeks is a framework for us to think about our fitness as resistance, to think about our fitness as a form of self-care. And self-care is radical. And when we prioritize taking care of ourselves and taking care of each other and our communities, that is a very powerful form of resistance. But I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it's going to be easy. Your nervous system is in threat mode and it's a responding exactly as it should to a genuinely threatening environment.(04:31)
But that's not the end of the story. You absolutely can make health and fitness gains even in these uncertain times. And in fact, it may be one of the best ways that you can push back against this authoritarian regime. Valuing yourself and valuing your body and your health is one of the number one forms of resistance against fascism. And by taking care of your body, taking care of your health, you are actually making yourself stronger so that you can show up better for your community and show up better for the people that you love. Self-care is not a luxury that we only work on during peace times in times like the ones that we're living in right now. It is essential. So that's what we're going to talk about in this episode, and we're going to continue this conversation over the next couple of weeks and how you can better take care of your body with everything that's going on right now. And I want to give you some motivation and a different way to think about your fitness that empowers you to continue seeking your fitness goals while also being kind to yourself and understanding what your nervous system is doing with these threats in our environment. So without further ado, let's get started with the first episode back to the coaching corner of 2026.(06:09)
The first thing we need to talk about as part of this conversation is recognizing the fact that our nervous systems, our capacity for behavior change, our willpower, our motivation, these are not just infinite resources that we can just draw from or just power our way through When we're feeling low, your nervous system responds to the environment that you are in. And when that environment feels threatening, that lowers your capacity for devoting time and energy and willpower towards other things that aren't just purely for survival. You may be feeling totally shut down or maybe you're feeling super anxious. Your nervous system may be activated over and over and over again. Every time that you check your social media feed the news or depending on where you live, when you step outside and you see federal agents on the street armed with guns pointing at civilians, many people are waking up and looking at the news and looking around their communities and thinking, this is not what I thought America was.(07:15)
And this can create a major crisis in your psychology and can make you question everything about who you believe yourself to be, your community, your family. There's a lot of trauma happening right now, and that means that your nervous system is being activated again and again and again. We are experiencing an ongoing traumatic vent and that has very real impact on our nervous systems, and that impacts in turn our ability to make behavior changes. And the old things that might have motivated you to get in shape, like you want to look better in a bikini or you want to look hot naked, you might find that those things are not important to you anymore because right now what's at the primary focus for many of us is just basic survival. So if you have been finding it hard to show up for your workouts or hard to meal prep, it might be that goal that you had in mind, your underlying why is no longer important to you, but that's not the end of the story.(08:23)
But before we move on, I just want to validate that what you are experiencing is very real nervous system dysregulation and it is going to be hard to make behavior changes. And it is especially going to be hard when the underlying why of why you started your fitness journey or what you were working for previously is no longer motivating you to keep showing up. It makes sense, but the paradox here is that when you are experiencing an ongoing traumatic event like the one that we're experiencing here in the United States is that self-care is actually even more important now than it was before. It is not just a luxury or something that you do when you have the privilege and time. It actually right now is a necessity right now. Your fitness journey is not only a necessity, but it can be a very powerful survival strategy because when everything else is out of your control, when you're experiencing high stress from your environment, what many psychologists and therapists suggest is that you focus on the things that you can control and the things that you can make progress on a very short term basis when the big picture is overwhelming.(09:43)
Focusing on small wins that you can make within your own body, within your own life can be very powerful in giving you a sense of progress and moving forward. And that in turn can give you the confidence that you need to be a good community member and resist in a powerful way in your role. And one of the most powerful things that you can control is how you treat your body, how much exercise you give yourself, and how you feed yourself. You've probably heard the phrase you can't pour from an empty cup, and by now it is a cliche, but it rings true, especially during these times. If you want to show up for community and you want to take action, getting strong, getting healthy is one of the best things you can do to be able to do that better. So if you want to maintain your capacity for resilience and resistance, you have to take care of yourself first.(10:42)
So not only is this going to help you to be able to be there for your community, but it's also psychologically going to help relieve some of the stress of what we're experiencing because fitness can give you some quick wins. I'm not talking about necessarily your aesthetic changes because those do happen very slowly over time, and it does take a long time for you to notice visible muscle growth. However, there are some things that do change pretty quickly and advance pretty quickly. When you're consistent on your fitness journey, especially when you are in the beginning or when you are coming back from a long time away from the gym, one of the fastest things that you'll see improve is your cardiovascular fitness. Your heart gets much more efficient at pumping blood to your muscles. You'll notice that after just a few days or a few weeks of consistently training your cardiovascular system, you'll be able to climb stairs without getting out of breath.(11:39)
Strength gains also happen pretty quickly as well. You can see pretty significant strength gains on a week by week basis. When you do the same workout routine and you try to add in more reps or use a little bit more or a little bit more weight over time, especially in the first six months to a year of consistent training, you're usually able to add on more reps and more weight if not every week, every other week. You'll also experience better movement quality, better coordination, and better balance. So being able to move better is not only going to allow you to go to these marches and be an active participant in your community, but you'll also be able to do so with less risk of injury and less chronic pain. And finally, getting into a consistent fitness routine will also help to improve your sleep quality.(12:33)
And remember that your sleep is really important for helping your body and your mind to recover, regulate your hormones and get your nervous system where it needs to be so that you can take meaningful action from a calm and regulated place. So getting consistent on a fitness routine will help to improve all of these areas of your life, which in turn can help you to show up better for yourself, for your loved ones and for your community. And the same thing applies to nutrition. Even when you make small changes to how you eat, like boosting the amount of protein that you eat every day or trying to eat more vegetables or more fruit and whole grains or trying to drink more water, all of these have pretty quick turnaround in how they make you feel and in your health, for example, when you're eating more whole foods or following the healthy plate model, you get more stable energy, fewer energy crashes throughout the day.(13:31)
It also will give you better mental clarity, which is so important for helping you to mentally cope with process and deal with everything that we're experiencing. Remember, your brain runs on glucose and nutrients, so when you give your brain the nutrients that it needs, it's going to be able to run all of its functions without setting your nervous system off and getting you back into a dysregulated state, which is going to just make processing and dealing with everything that we're experiencing a lot harder. So both nutrition and exercise are really powerful tools for helping you to regulate your nervous system and regulate your moods, which will help you to think more clearly, process what's going on and make better decisions. When you prioritize taking care of yourself through exercise and healthy eating, you help to set up positive feedback loops that strengthen themselves and make it easier and easier over time for you to continue to take better and better care of yourself, which in turn will help you to be more and more effective in your personal resistance efforts.(14:38)
When you exercise, when you drink more water, when you eat better, you have more energy. When you have more energy, you're better able to manage stress. When you manage your stress better, you're able to sleep better and sleeping better helps you to regulate your nervous system and regulate your moods, which gives you better capacity for stress and also makes it easier for you to do the things that help to give you more energy like exercising and eating healthy. The more and more that you invest yourself, your time and your attention into these things, the easier and easier it gets to stick to them over time. And the inverse is also true. The more that you continue to neglect your body and neglect your self-care, this makes it harder and harder for you to do your self-care activities. And it also negatively impacts how effective you are in your resistance efforts.(15:30)
You have less energy to go to marches and protests. You're more likely to experience depressive episodes because you're not regulating your nervous system. And when you're in a depressive episode, you're not able to take as much action as you might otherwise to exercise your rights and empower yourself. Now, I'm not saying that eating vegetables and exercising is going to solve fascism, but you have to remember that you are one person that exists in our community and our society. And when each person takes better care of themselves and makes themselves stronger and more resilient and more resilient to stress, then that makes us as a people stronger, as a collective and more capable of resistance, effective resistance against the threats that we're facing, eating better and exercising in combination with community action and community care is how we get through this thing. So if you're feeling in a rut about your fitness and your self-care in the face of everything we're facing here in 2026, that makes sense.(16:38)
I want to first validate that it makes sense that you feel that way. Your nervous system is dealing with a lot right now, but you might find that reframing your approach towards your self-care and towards your fitness as an act of resistance can help you to get back on track and actually give your fitness journey even more meaning. And second, I want to encourage you to start small with manageable baby steps. Don't try to overhaul your entire life right now because your nervous system frankly can't handle that much change. Start with what is the easiest change that you can make to move the needle forward on your health that might be committing to drinking more water or committing to getting up and moving your body, turning on some music and dancing or just shaking things out, doing some yoga. Do something that is doable and manageable for you even if it's small, because those small wins, they help you to gain confidence and they do add up over time.(17:41)
You do not need to jump right into going to the gym for five to six hours a week. Really focus on what is doable for you right now. Your goal is not perfection. Our goal is to try to take better and better care of ourselves every day better than what we did yesterday. And also just give yourself some compassion. There are going to be times where you do need to rest because we are processing a lot and there is an ongoing trauma happening right now. And when our nervous systems are activated and heightened and we get lots of cortisol and adrenaline, exercise can help with that, but also so can rest. So when your body needs rest, get good at recognizing when that it needs to happen and allow yourself to take that rest without guilt, because rest is when our bodies do regulate themselves.(18:34)
That's when your body turns the nutrients that you eat into muscle. That's when you regulate your hormones. So if you need to rest more right now, that's also okay. That's part of your self-care, which is also part of your resistance. Remember, fascism really relies on you not valuing yourself, and it really preys on people who are feeling really insecure and powerless and then gives them an easy answer and someone to blame for why they feel that way. So taking care of yourself and empowering yourself, valuing yourself, and doing this in combination with being an active member of your community is one of the best things that you can do to make yourself resilient against fascism. But it also is going to make it so that you're going to be much better able to help your community during this time, and it will also help you personally on a psychological level, cope with and process the things that are happening. So focus on what you can control and you can control what goes into your body and how you move and how you exercise. Build your resilience, one workout at a time, one healthy snack at a time, one choice of resistance at a time. And remember that I'm here to help.(19:57)
Thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode of The Coaching Corner podcast. I recognize that the tone of this episode is pretty different from past episodes, but like I said, we are living in extraordinary times, and I want to remind everyone that fitness is political. And the reality is that there is and has been always a fitness to alt-right pipeline, which is one of the reasons why we are where we are today. Many people have been radicalized towards supporting fascism and participating in fascism through fitness content on social media. And as someone who cares about human rights and as someone who cares about other people, I find it my responsibility as a coach as well, and a member of my community to stand as a point of resistance in this realm. So if that's your vibe, I'd love to have you as part of my community hanging out here in the comments on YouTube or in my Twitch streams when I'm live on Twitch throughout the weeks.(21:01)
And if you want a little bit more one-on-one help with your personal fitness journey, I do have doors open for my brand new coaching programs, fat Loss Transformation, and Body Sculpt Transformation. So you can apply for one-on-one coaching by clicking on the link that is below this video or in the show notes if you're listening to this podcast episode. Both of these programs are structured in a way to help you to step by step work towards your fitness goals, whether that's burning fats or getting strong. So apply for coaching by checking out the link below, and I will see you in the next episode. Thank you again so much for watching or listening. In the meantime, make sure that you're taking care of yourself. Drink your water, eat your veggies, stick to your workout plan, and I will see you soon.
We Don't Exist in a Vacuum
Our capacity for behavior change, our willpower, our motivation - these aren't infinite resources that we can just willpower our way into accessing regardless of circumstances. We are biological beings with nervous systems that respond to our environment, and right now, that environment is genuinely stressful and threatening for many people.
So first: I see you. I validate what you're experiencing. This is hard, and it's okay that it's hard.
The Paradox: Why Self-Care Matters More Now
But here's what I also want to talk about, and it might seem paradoxical: this is precisely when taking care of yourself becomes most crucial - not as a luxury, but as a survival strategy.
When everything feels out of control, when the big picture is overwhelming and frightening, we need to anchor ourselves to the things we can control. And one of the most powerful things within your control is how you care for your body and mind.
You've probably heard the phrase "you can't pour from an empty cup." It's become a bit of a cliché, but it's true. If you want to show up for your community, if you want to be able to take action, if you want to support others, if you want to maintain your capacity for resistance and resilience - you need to take care of yourself first.
Quick Wins and the Power of Control
During times of extreme stress and uncertainty, focusing on things that give you quick wins is crucial for maintaining mental health and resilience. And this is where fitness and nutrition actually become incredibly valuable tools.
Let me be clear: I'm not talking about aesthetic changes. I'm not talking about weight loss or getting a six-pack. I'm talking about functional, felt improvements that happen relatively quickly when you start or return to consistent training.
The Quick Results of Training
Here's what's amazing about the human body: it responds to training stimulus fast. Within weeks - sometimes even days - you can experience:
Cardiovascular improvements: Your heart gets more efficient at pumping blood. You'll notice you can climb stairs without getting winded, or play with your kids without feeling exhausted.
Strength gains: Especially if you're new or returning to training, you'll see strength improvements week by week. That weight that felt heavy last week feels manageable this week. That's real, measurable progress.
Better movement quality: Your balance improves. Your coordination gets sharper. Movement that felt awkward or uncomfortable becomes smoother.
Improved proprioception: You become more aware of your body in space, more connected to how you move.
Enhanced sleep quality: Regular movement helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle, which directly impacts every other aspect of your health and resilience.
These aren't hypotheticals. These are changes that happen on a week-by-week basis when you engage in consistent training. And in a world where so much feels out of control, being able to point to concrete, measurable progress - "last week I could do 5 push-ups, this week I can do 8" - provides a sense of agency and accomplishment that is psychologically powerful.
Nutrition and Mental Resilience
The same principle applies to nutrition. When you fuel your body with adequate nutrition - enough protein, enough vegetables, enough variety - you will feel the difference relatively quickly:
More stable energy: No more afternoon crashes that leave you unable to focus or function.
Better mental clarity: Your brain runs on glucose and nutrients. Feed it well, and your thinking becomes clearer.
Improved nervous system regulation: When you're not riding a blood sugar roller coaster, your nervous system can find more stable ground. You're less reactive, better able to handle stress.
Better mood regulation: The gut-brain connection is real. What you eat directly impacts your neurotransmitter production and mood stability.
You don't have to eat "perfectly" - and honestly, I don't even believe in perfect eating. But making intentional choices to nourish your body, even in small ways, creates a foundation for everything else.
The Circle of Care
Here's how this all connects: when you take care of yourself through movement and nutrition, you create a positive feedback loop.
You have more energy → you're better able to manage stress → you sleep better → you have better mental clarity → you're more capable of taking action on the things that matter → you're better able to care for others → you reinforce your sense of agency and control.
The inverse is also true. When you neglect self-care because you feel like you don't have time or because you're too overwhelmed:
You have less energy → stress feels more overwhelming → sleep suffers → mental fog sets in → you feel less capable → you withdraw → you lose your sense of agency.
I'm not saying that eating vegetables and doing squats will solve fascism. But I am saying that taking care of yourself makes you more resilient, more capable, and better equipped to handle whatever comes.
Practical Application: Start Small
So what does this look like in practice, especially when you're already overwhelmed?
Start small. Start manageable.
You don't need to commit to five days a week in the gym. You don't need to overhaul your entire diet. You need to identify one or two things you can do consistently that will give you quick wins.
Maybe that's:
A 20-minute walk three times a week
Adding protein to breakfast
A 15-minute strength session twice a week
Drinking enough water
Going to bed 30 minutes earlier
Pick something small enough that it feels achievable even on hard days, and consistent enough that you'll see results within a few weeks.
The goal isn't perfection. The goal is building a foundation of self-care that supports your resilience, your capacity for action, and your ability to show up - for yourself and for others.
Moving Forward
These are hard times. I'm not going to minimize that or pretend that self-care is a substitute for collective action and systemic change.
But I also know that sustainable resistance requires sustainable people. You matter. Your health matters. Your capacity to move through the world with energy and clarity and strength - that matters.
So if you've been struggling, please hear this: it's okay to start small. It's okay to meet yourself where you are. And it's okay - it's necessary - to prioritize taking care of yourself.
Focus on what you can control. Celebrate the quick wins. Build your resilience one workout, one meal, one choice at a time.
You can do this. And I'm here to help.
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