44. My Body Was Built For This with Christine D'Ercole

Feb 17

I am, I can, I will, I do. These are the words Christine D’Ercole lives by. It’s the power of positive self-talk and affirmations that changed the game for Christine. She realized she could embrace her stronger body and encourage others to be true to themselves.

Write Down and Repeat These Words to Yourself Often

I am

I can

I will

I do

Listen to Episode 44 Here

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About Christine D’Ercole

Christine D’Ercole is a decorated track cyclist who brings this expertise to every Peloton class.

Grounded in science, music, grit, and grace, Christine believes that at all times you have two tools at your disposal: your breath and your inner monologue.

In her class, you can expect Christine to empower Members to break through self-imposed limitations and embrace their authentic selves and strength, both on and off the Bike.

The Mindset of Shifting Gears

What Christine D’Ercole brings us today is not just a story full of mindset shifts and motivation, but a story of hope. She shares with us her experience with body image issues, stemming from hearing at twelve years old (yes, twelve) that she had talent, but wouldn’t be cast in the role unless she lost ten pounds.

Her life spiraled after this point, through eating disorders, self-harm, and chasing careers that didn’t want her body type… or at least not yet. It wasn’t until she was working as a bicycle courier in New York City, clearly the fastest of the group, that she started to believe she had what it takes to be a professional cycler.

Christine explains what mindset shifts she went through in order to embrace this huge change in her life. She describes it as though something insider her just switched gears (see what I did there?) and she went with that new motivation.

Even when she left professional cycling after becoming pregnant, Christine adopted a more positive attitude towards her body. This doesn’t mean it’s always been smooth sailing for her, but that fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude was a blessing when she felt at her lowest.

Positive Self-Talk is a GameChanger

An absolute gamechanger for Christine came when she attended her first spin class with a really mean instructor. She knew she would give a more positive, fun, and uplifting class and within one month, she qualified as a spin instructor.

Christine learned more about different types of muscles and why some are more suited for one type of exercise over another. She encourages you to figure out what type of exercise you’ll excel at and focus on that.

Christine brings her positive attitude with her everywhere. She believes in the power of words and positive self-talk. Whether you’re repeating empowering statements to yourself in the mirror, writing down your power mantras and reading them aloud, or embrace positive affirmations in another way, the message is clear:

Give yourself permission to live your life differently.

Homework for Women Physicians

How do you give yourself positive self-talk? Do you have a mantra writing practice? What’s your favorite empowering self-statement? Let me know in the comments below!

In This Episode

What mindset shifts have to happen for you to grow into what you’re zone of genius is [10:15]
How you can adopt a healthy fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude [16:15]
Why you should figure out your muscle type and excel at an exercise that prioritizes that [22:45]
What the power of words and self-talk are [24:00]
Why you should adopt a mantra writing practice [27:30]

Quotes

“Discovering that I could be successful because of myself - myself - not because of someone else’s opinion of me.” [8:39]

“It is very hard for us because the messaging, the images, and the culture are so loud that we are supposed to look a certain way in order to be loved, to feel worthy, to be accepted. As though, if you don’t look this way, you should just give up. We should all be able to walk around naked-proud.” [23:00]

“Saying these words out loud, writing these words down. It almost feels like it’s forbidden to imagine our lives any differently. We have to remove the forbidden and give ourselves permission. It is the act of writing.” [27:08]