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Archives for January 2010
Willpower: What is it, and Where Do I Get Some?
Most people view eating right and exercising as an exercise in willpower.
But what is willpower? Being able to resist eating a cookie? Not being tempted by the cookie at all? And how do you get more of it?
According to the NY Times:
“The elusive forces behind a person’s willpower have been the subject of increasing scrutiny by the scientific community trying to understand why some people overeat or abuse drugs and alcohol. What researchers are finding is that willpower is essentially a mental muscle, and certain physical and mental forces can weaken or strengthen our self-control.”
So how do you get more willpower?
By flexing that mental muscle. Just like any other muscle in your body, you must exercise willpower in order to make it stronger.
We are a country run by immediate gratification: Blackberries, emails, text messages, fast cars, fast food, credit cards- if we want something, we want it right now, and get cranky if we have to wait. Sometimes that impulse can carry over into other areas we would rather it didn’t.
Does this sound like you? “I’m hungry. I can’t concentrate until I get food. I need food. I want chocolate. I need chocolate. Must. Find. Chocolate.” You aren’t going to die of hunger if you don’t have a Hershey’s Kiss, but we have trained ourselves that the second we have an impulse, we must give into it.
The researchers in that same article recommend starting out with small tasks to work your way up to the big ones. Next time you sit down to a meal, deprive yourself on a small scale. Wait for 5 minutes before you start to eat. Put your fork down in between bites. Eat half, and then go do something else for half an hour and then come back and finish. Slow down, and show that meal who’s boss: you control what goes into your body.
Now, don’t go on a fast just to see if you can do it, please. That will only have the opposite effect and before you know it you’ll end up with Cheeto dust in your hair after you ate yourself out of house and home.
Remember: small resistance, in order to work up to the resistance of the big temptations. Want that piece of cake at the office party? Nah, you can wait until you get home to make a healthy meal.
Give it a try. Did you die of starvation? Did the world come to an end? Or did you have the feeling of confidence that you are in control of your meal, and how and when to eat it?
7 Step Quick and Dirty Guide to a Fitness Resolution that Sticks!
Every minute spent in planning saves ten minutes in execution. You only have so much personal capital(Time+Energy) to invest in your Get Lean Get Toned–Goals. So you want to make the most of it.
Every minute that you spend setting clear goals, and creating a plan of action in advance saves ten minutes of work in the execution of those plans. That’s a return of ten times, or 1,000 percent, on your investment of energy/time. You’ll be more confident going into it having done this plan too.
Here are 7 steps to help you get the body you want in 2010. Give yourself 1 hour to do this. You’ll have 5840 waking hours available in the next year. This 1 hour can make all the difference in the other 5839.
1. Set Your Goal: Decide Exactly what you want to accomplish. Do you want to go from a size 14 to a 10? Lose 10, 20 or a 100 pounds? Get back into a certain pair of skinny jeans? The choice is all yours. But do pick one or two goals and make them measurable. “Lose weight” isn’t a goal. “Lose 10 pounds” is a measurable goal.
2. Write it Down: Yes. Physically write it down.. Before this it’s just a wish.
Writing it down makes it real and concrete. Study after study has proven the positive connection between writing down a goal and it’s accomplishment.
3. Set a Deadline: This is a forcing mechanism to get you into action. And more importantly KEEP you in action. Lot’s of people set a start time but leave the finish time open ended. Set this and hold yourself to it. Even if your goal is 15lbs in 4 weeks and you dump 11lbs in that time period. You’re still on target. And that’s a win in my book.
4. Make a List: Write down everything you could possibly do to get you to your goal. This is a brain dump and it should be fast. Don’t think or edit yourself. Just write and let it flow. Ex. 1. Clear pantry of junk food. 2. write down everything I eat this week 3. Exercise for a minimum of 30 min per day. Keep going until your brain is empty.
5. Organize Your List: This is your plan. Don’t try to it all in one week. Change one habit per week. Over a short amount of time you will see the effect of compound interest from your habit changes. The 80/20 Rule is in effect here. 80% of your results will come from 20% of this list.
6. Take Action Now: Motion beats meditation here. Get Started! Wake up re-write your goal and choose one thing from your plan to implement. Then do it. You have now started.
7. Do Something Everyday: If it’s important Do it Every Day! I’ve seen more weight loss success with food journaling than any other system or habit. And I believe it’s the “do it every day” factor. The awareness that creates of what goes into your mouth everyday has a huge positive impact on your behaviors. Make small daily investments in yourself. The Compounding interest of these investments will give you dramatic visible results in the mirror, your clothes and the scale in the coming weeks and months.
This does not have to be perfect! Perfect is the enemy of Done! Just get it Done.
You will amaze yourself. By what you see in the mirror. When you translate that dream in your head today. Into a goal. Into a plan. Into action. Into your reality tomorrow.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Dave
P.s. Rapid Results Fitness Camp Officially kicks off Monday! Fast Action-Fully Supported-Completely Guaranteed Results. My Camps are capped at 20 clients each. They are all filling fast. Don’t get left out. Talk to you later.
Bootcamps are Best? I Could Have Told Your That
Seems the LA Times is reporting on what I knew all along ….
The article is a little dry but reporters have lot of people to please. It’s hard to say the chance of you feeling completely out of control the first day of camp is 100%.
The chance you’ll feel like vomiting 30% I don’t want you to. You don’t want you to. But it happens.
Chance of soreness 100%.
Fitness Camps, where Clients meet up, generally at 5:30-6am, or before, to burn fat with the most intense workouts of their lives, with few breaks, little or no rest, and the triple hit of bodyweight/resistance, plyometrics and ultra fat burning HIIT workouts are the perfect recipe for weigh loss success. Don’t believe me? Check out Kim’s story.
Blood, guts, sweat, tears…and still having the drive to pound out 10-20 or Um.50 more reps. Because it’s exercise disguised as FUN.
Man you know what’s so 2007. Trudging through the same old gym workout you have been doing for years(and years and years), with no one to push you, no one to care if you show-up much less finish with a huge push, equals little or no results.
They are called bootcamps. But it’s really a name for the format. There’s no yelling just positive motivation. No fancy equipment, no gadgets, no distraction, no mercy. Just you, your mates, and results.
How can pushing yourself to collapse be fun if there is no one to laugh with you when you face plant in the grass after your arms give out after pushups, presses, burbees, and planks?
Oh. That incredible sense of accomplishment and exhilarating feeling of really living life to it’s fullest. That comes with the bikini ready body.
Hope you’re willing to experience what I’m talking about.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Dave
p.s. Jan 11th it’s go time. And the 4 week cycles will be over. The program will run continuously. No breaks. Cients will be able to join anytime during the month when there’s space available. Don’t miss your window to get in.
Click here for more information on The Body Firm’s Fitness Boot Camps
First Post of 2010! And it’s about drinking Fat.
Working on the Setting Goals in 7 Steps post and got sidetracked.
Sometimes a visual beats all the talking in the world to get people to understand the deal.
I get some people that still drink soft drinks. Most have switched over from fat producing full calorie soda. To “0” calorie diet drinks that cause cancer. Oops! Did I just say that out loud?
Enjoy!
Dedicated to Your Success(in 2010!)
Dave
The Best of The Body Firm 2009
Happy New Year!
If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you behaved yourself last night because it’s hard to look at a computer screen with a splitting headache.
2009 is over, and one of the most exciting things about it for me was starting this blog. I wanted a place where clients and the public as a whole could come and find inspiration, motivation and helpful, reliable information about health and fitness.
Lace up your walking shoes, and let’s take a stroll down memory lane, visiting the best of Body Firm Blog in 2009.
We learned how to set ourselves up for success by not testing our will with unnecessary temptation
The Alcohol Survival guide is the key to being able to party while remaining calorie conscious
Morning Training- It’s just so good
Low on motivation? Never again.
Get slapped across the face with some hard truths about weight loss
Could you run 100 miles? He did.
Blast fat fast with a big HIIT
Quit blaming muscle for not losing weight
Are you even thinking about making an excuse?