Category Archives: PFOCUS
FOCUS – MOTIVATION – INSPIRATION – EDUCATION.
This section is for those of you who need the motivation (and maybe even a kick in the pants) to focus, or refocus, on your goals.
Fitness: Beyond Your Gym Attendance
Have you heard that saying, “you can stand in the garage, but that doesn’t make you a car? Well the same applies to fitness.
Going to the gym doesn’t make you fit. Even doing an occasional intense workout doesn’t necessarily get you fit either. Your body needs a lot more than just regular gym attendance – it needs a healthy lifestyle. Being fit requires eating for fuel, giving your body the nutrients it needs to grow and repair. It requires discipline. You may need to say “No’ next time you are asked to go out when you know your body desperately needs rest. Your body needs ample fluids for healthy hydration and to help flush toxins. Your body needs good posture to relieve joints and to prevent injury. Sadly, there are a lot of people working hard in the gym to get fit, who are destroying their bodies as soon as they walk out the door.
Whether it’s eating junk food, smoking, drinking, not getting rest, allowing too much stress in your life or being in an unhealthy relationship, unhealthy choices can trump any good workout if you are not careful.
Sure, you might get stronger if you lift weights regularly, but you could still die of lung cancer if you smoke. You could still be at risk of diabetes and obesity related illness even if you do regular cardio, if you continue to eat healthy. Even if you workout, you can still be at risk for injury due to poor posture or tight muscles.
The bottom line is you can’t expect to pick and choose what you are willing to do to be fit and healthy. Being fit is something you work toward all day long. Decide to strive for the full package – healthy inside and out. Look healthy because you ARE healthy!
- Be STRONG: Lift weights regularly
- Be FIT: Challenge your cardiovascular system with regular cardio
- Be HEALTHY: Eat healthy food – you really are what you eat!
- Be FLEXIBLE: Remember to stretch tight muscles to prevent poor posture and injury.
- Be CALM: Meditate, pray and rest. Your body and mind needs quiet time too.
Motivation Monday: Try Something GREAT
“When Is the Last Time You Attempted Something Great?”
This is a very powerful question. I believe many of us avoid attempting great tasks to avoid experiencing great failure. There comes a time you have to ask yourself, “What is worse? Attempting something great and possibly failiing, or not attempting anything great at all and succeeding?”
I’ve recently been asked to do some pretty scary things – scary to me at least. My first instinct was to say “no”. Then I had to ask myself why I was saying no. Was it because it would hurt me? No. Was it because it would hurt anyone else? No. Was it because I was afraid to fail. The answer was yes – but that should NEVER stop me from trying something. When it boiled down to it, I had no other choice but to decide to do it because I really had no good reason not to at least try.
Sadly, many people never really ever try to do something great simply because they don’t want to fail. I believe we are looking at success all wrong. Success is not reaching your goal without opposition, struggle, failures or setbacks. Success is reaching your goal, or getting closer to your goal, despite all of that. Success is also not just doing what you are good at. You can be successful in just trying. You can be more successful attempting success, even if you fall short of your goal. Your goal may be in trying alone. Let me explain…
The Success In Trying
Someone recently suggested my mom be in the Ms. Senior Pageant. She thought long and hard on it and decided it was time she step outside her box and do it. Her goal was not to win. Her goal was to get out of her comfort zone and to experience personal growth, as well as encourage the other ladies there. Her goal was to show up.
Her dress didn’t come in time but she didn’t stress (I admit I would have freaked!). She could have easily used that as an excuse to back out. She could have taken that as an omen, “well it’s just not mean to be”, but she didn’t. She pressed on. She was scheduled to be out of town for work a lot, and she could have used that as an excuse for poor timing, but she found a way to fit it all in. She had never done a pageant before and struggled with the perception of being in a “beauty pageant” but she focused on what good could come out of instead. She had plenty of really good excuses but decided to not use one of them.
Just showing up for her was a big win. We were all so proud because we knew she was way out of her box. She was proud of herself. She said she would sit there at practice thinking “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” As I watched her on stage, I marveled at her bravery, knowing it wasn’t easy for her. I gleamed with pride and reflected on my own need to step outside my comfort zone. She not only did it – to her surprise, she won.
What If You Fail?
What if she failed? What if she didn’t even get to be a runner up? Would she really have failed? Absolutely not. She met some amazing ladies and she could celebrate the victory of stepping out of her box. The moment she said “Yes, I’ll do it” she succeeded. The moment she stepped on stage, she was a winner because she attempted something great. She practiced and performed her song. She memorized her philosophy. She learned how to walk, dance and prepare for such an event. She walked away with more experience, more confidence and more ways to encourage people. Whether she walked away with a crown on her head and a sash across her chest or not, she would have left a better person, a more fully developed person with one more great experience under her belt. Victory was inevitable.
I want to challenge you today to try something great. Don’t just attempt to lose 20lbs, attempt to lose the full 50 you need to lose. Ladie,s don’t try to just get any man, aim to find the BEST and GREATEST man for you. Don’t settle for a job you are miserable, keep applying for the job you’ve always wanted. Don’t settle for an average marriage, work hard to develop a phenomenal marriage. In every single attempt, you will likely see much improvement whether you reach your desired goal or not.
Remember…
“Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.” (Les Brown)
Why You Can’t Work Off Your Weight
I’m going to tell you something that could save you hours in the gym and weeks of wasted work for little to no results? Ready? OK, here it goes: you can’t exercise the weight off. (allowing a pause here for every woman to shriek in pure horror and disappointment)
Don’t get me wrong. There are SOME people who start exercising and lose weight, but normally they are also trying to eat better too. OR, maybe they were extremely overweight and sedentary so their new active lifestyle was a very drastic change for them. Whatever the case, it’s rare and exercise can only get you so far when it comes to weight loss. Weight loss requires cutting back on the calories taken in, unless you want to run 5-10 miles a day to get in the 500-1000 calorie deficit that is required for weight loss.
Unfortunately, many people join a gym and hire a trainer in hopes of losing weight and rely on those 3 workouts a week to do all the work. I only WISH this worked! Being a trainer would be awesome, everyone would get results and the world would be a happy fit and trim place. But it just doesn’t work like that.
Think about it. Do you really expect a one hour workout to erase all the poor choices you make for the rest of the 23 hours in your day? Does that even make sense? However, many people are doing just that. They expect their 3-5 hours in the gym each week to erase all the extra calories they eat over the 168 hours a week. Do the math! 5 hours vs 168 hours. If we were gambling, I’m pretty sure we’d all bet on the 168 hours winning the fight.
“You can’t compete with what you eat”
Think of it this way. If 30 minutes on the treadmill only burns 300 calories, but you can eat a 300-calorie pastry in 5 minutes, can you see how that math will never work? (PS: 1 blueberry scone at Starbucks is 460 CALORIES!!) So for every 5 minutes of pastry-eating, you’d need to work 30 minutes on the treadmill? Yeah, that ain’t happening.
It doesn’t have to be poor choices either. Most people just eat too much. They may eat healthy, but they eat a LOT of healthy food. And, the more they workout, the more they mentally think they can afford to eat.
Of course I’m just using these examples to help you grasp the whole exercise vs diet concept, do don’t get freaked out. This is also written for people who need to lose weight. Maintenance mode is totally different. When you are maintenance mode you aren’t trying to be in a caloric deficit so you can eat more. I can order fries if I want to and I probably won’t gain weight because I’m in maintenance. Now, if I did it every day, that’s another thing! However, I keep my calories low throughout the day so I CAN cheat here and there and not gain weight. I may also do an extra cardio here or there to make up for any extra calories, but I never can be completely irresponsible for several days straight or I will blow up quick. ;)
Sadly, most people don’t want to give up their simple little pleasures – even for a much BIGGER and GREATER reward, like a fit and trim body. They feel like they “must have chocolate” or “can’t give up wine”. Maybe their goal is too far away that they don’t truly realize what that glass of wine or nightly ice cream is costing them. They don’t realize how fast they’d reach their goal if they just stuck to both diet and exercise.
So, to make themselves feel better they decide to exercise. Working out is awesome and you can absolutely get in better shape. You can have a firmer body, stronger muscles, better stamina and more energy BUT you may not lose one pound if you are burning as many calories as you are eating. Diet is required for weight loss.
The same way you can’t eat a bunch of protein and magically grow muscle, you have to make sure you are doing what is required to reach your goal. If you want to lose body fat and lose weight, you have to diet. If you want to get fit, you have to exercise. If you want a better health report, you probably need to do both. If you want to look fit, you need to do both.
Most people act as if they are in maintenance mode – exercising and eating whatever they want. However, most people need to be in weight loss mode, which is dieting and exercising. The sooner you do it right, the sooner you can be in maintenance mode – but just a thinner fitter you in maintenance mode!
TIP: The longer you put off dieting, the longer you put off results. Go ahead and start today! You can lose 8-12lbs in one month with a great low-cal diet and exercise program. Do the math! How much do you need to lose? Isn’t it worth a few weeks of discipline!? I think it is!! You’ll be SO glad you did! Otherwise, 5 years may fly by and you are still the same weight because you weren’t willing to work as hard in the kitchen as you were in the gym.
7 Ways to Redefine Yourself
I can’t tell you how often I hear people make decisions based on past experience. “Last time I tried that, I got hurt”, “I joined a gym once and I never used it”, “I’ve always been overweight and I always will”, “I’ve never been able to do that”, “I’ve never been able to control myself”.
These are all past-tense statements that are currently affecting the present. So what if you’ve never been able to control yourself. So what if you’ve failed 100 times? It doesn’t mean you will fail this time.
Take all your past experiences and learn what you can from them and then start NEW. Make NEW decisions, not based on who you’ve BEEN but who you desire to BECOME.
Weak people get strong. Out of shape people get fit. People fall, and they learn to get back up and secure their footing. I’ve known SO many people who have joined every gym in town and finally started to learn how to use the gym and become a success. I’ve know people overweight alllll their life (fully convinced they just inherited fatness) get fit – and even get shredded with physiques that belong in fitness magazines!
For every person out there who has a darn good excuse why they are depressed, overweight, unhealthy, tired or has failed, there is a person in the same exact situation with the same exact past who is succeeding.
You can be whoever you want to be despite who you’ve been. Redefine yourself. Start today.
Here are 7 Tips to Redefining Yourself
1. Learn to Move Ahead: Decide to accept responsibility for where you are if it’s your fault, and decide to forgive someone else for what you’ve been through if it’s someone else’s fault (poor childhood, abuse, etc). You can’t move forward if you are still holding on to the past.
2. Look for Lessons: What have you learned from your mistakes? Is it possible you didn’t follow the last diet like you were supposed to? What did you do wrong last time you tried to reach a goal? Was the goal too high, or did you just not give it 100% effort? Be honest, search hard, reach deep, find answers.
3. Promise to Improve: Write the list of mistakes you need to avoid and promise to improve. Promise yourself you will not repeat the past. When you want to repeat a mistake, claim the new you saying “that was the OLD me!”, reminding yourself of who you are NOW and who you are BECOMING!
4. Try New Things: Many people don’t experience the fullness of life because they are afraid to try something new. They cling to what they know, even if what they know isn’t good for them. Step out of your comfort zone and decide to try things that you know will grow you, strengthen you and improve you. (This is something I struggle with. I am working on stepping out of my comfortable safe box. It’s scary, but I know it will be rewarding.)
5. Train Your Brain: As Joyce Meyer says “where your mind goes, your body follows“. As SOOOON as you think a negative thought, you have to stop that thought and replace it with a positive one (or at least replace it with a truth you can hold on to). You have control of your thoughts – and if you don’t, they will control you. How we think is practiced, so we must practice right thinking. Take charge of your thought life and you will take control of your life. As soon as your mind says “I’m too tired to workout”, remind yourself “I always feel better after a workout”. If you think “I feel so weak”, remind yourself “but I am doing everything I can to get stronger”. Tell yourself “that was the OLD me, the new ME doesn’t think like that anymore”.
If you focus on your goals, you lose sight of your limitations. If you focus on your limitations, you lose sight of your goals.
6. Take Your Mind Off Yourself: The more we think about our own issues, flaws, shortcomings, problems, limitations, etc., the bigger obstacles they seem. There is a reason we say “focus on your goals” and “keep focused”, because we (trainers) know that when you focus on something, everything else gets out of focus, they grow dim, they blur out. If you focus on your goals, you lose sight of your limitations. If you focus on your limitations, you lose sight of your goals. However, when you look at your goal, and look at other people reaching their goals, you realize how little excuse you have. When I see one of our members rolling her wheelchair through the gym, or a overweight member hitting the elliptical for 45 minutes, all my lame excuses to skip cardio pale in comparison.
7. Rely on Science, not Hopes: Fitness isn’t like the lottery, where you play in hopes of winning. No, fitness is science. It works – period. Science doesn’t just work for one person and not another. If you aren’t getting results, there’s a reason. You have part of the equation off. Don’t keep doing the same thing hoping to get a better result. Find people who are getting results and do exactly what they are doing. I don’t know how often someone asks me what I do to stay fit and as soon as I talk about diet, they tune me out. They were hoping I told them about a new exercise or a magical piece of equipment. However, if they wanted to eat what I eat and do what I’m doing, they’d get the same exact results. It’s just science. Celebrate it! Learn more about it. You are your own science project – keep experimenting until you get the result you want!
Bottom line is this: It doesn’t matter what road you have traveled, what matters is what road you are on now. Get on the path to success!
Motivation: Are You Failing?
No Limits - The human body can do amazing things …with practice. This video proves that. It’s easy to look at a lot of these guys and girls and think they just have great genetics or they are just plain crazy (which, I admit they are!), but they all started out in diapers just like you and me. As they grew up, they began dreaming and acting on those dreams. They all started small before moving on to bigger tricks and bigger dreams. As they grew, their dreams grew – and they just never stopped dreaming and trying to accomplish those dreams
Fail your way to success - One thing they all have in common is this: None of them are afraid to fail. They can’t be afraid to fail because failure is required to succeed. Every one of those people had to fall – and probably fall a LOT of times. Some of the falls might have even been huge set backs with broken bones, twisted ankles, blown knees or just plain blow egos. Some of the falls might have even caused them to want to quit, or to be too afraid to try again.
I challenge you today to embrace failure. To plan for it and realize that is a required part of the process to reach your goals and grow in life. We can’t build a muscle without a certain level of muscle failure, where they muscle is struggling to finish that last rep. It’s in the failure that our body strengthened. So, failure is not just OK, it’s actually required. Celebrate!
Here are 4 tips to handling failure better so you can fail your way to success!
1. Plan to practice a lot. This means, make a promise to yourself that you will stay committed to practicing weight loss and getting fit for a long period of time. Just like you can’t expect to learn some crazy trick overnight, you can’t learn how to get fit overnight either. It takes practice. Commit to practicing the fitness lifestyle regularly. Practice makes perfect.
2. Get a good coach or mentor. Many of the people in this video probably had a teacher or a best friend who had similar dreams and passions. The same way you would hire a good coach if you wanted to go to the Olympics, you may need to hire a good trainer if you want the best results possible. While a trainer isn’t required, they can absolutely help catapult you ahead. Successful people rarely spend a lot of time with people who are not on the same page. Spend the majority of your time with people who will help you, and support you, to reach your goals. Those are the people who will remind you that you can do it, and encourage you to try and try again – when other people would love to see you fail.
3. Prepare for failure. As you pursue your dreams and your fitness and weight loss goals, be prepared for failure. That’s why people where knee pads, helmets and protective clothing when doing tricks – they know that failure is very possible. It’s not a matter of “IF” but “WHEN”. So the key to success is to be prepared to fall. These guys don’t pick up a skate board and hit a ramp, thinking falling will never happen. They are realistic and we need to be realistic too. Put your protective mental gear on so you are prepared for the blows. Decide BEFORE you fall, how you plan to learn from your failure and bounce back as fast as possible.
4. Remember your body amazing. So many of us put limits on what our body can do. We are not limited by our body, we are more limited by our mind. Our body is capable of SO much more. However, how often do we quit an exercise too short because our legs are burning, when it’s not like they couldn’t do 5 more reps – we just didn’t want to feel the burn for 5 more reps. Our body is strong, it’s tough, it’s truly amazing – so remember that! Don’t put limits on what you can or cannot do. Put your body to the test daily and surprise yourself!! I can’t believe how many people say “I can’t do that” and they haven’t even TRIED! If that is you, you are missing out!! Let your body show off! What’s the worse that can happen? You fail? It’s not like you’ll die trying. You won’t DIE if you don’t have your nighttime snacks. You won’t DIE without chocolate. You might not think you can get as lean as someone else, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know how lean you can get – or how strong you can get, how flexible you can get, how much endurance you can gain. All of this requires testing your body over and over again. I promise you will shock yourself.
Today is the day you quit putting limits on yourself. You are not too old, too out of shape, too heavy, too broken, too poor, too busy, too far gone or too whatever! No, you are a human body that was created by an amazing God who designed your body to heal, get stronger and get better when put to the test. Go make him proud and take care of the body He gave you and wants you to have!
“You are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:20
Today’s motivational mantra pic:
Strength for the Weary Woman
[strengkth, strength, strenth] noun
Are you ready to get STRONG?
If you are struggling, remember what strength is. It’s not the weight you lift in the gym (definition #1: muscular power), it’s the being the woman you were called to be. It’s sticking to your goals and seeing them through no matter what (definition #3: firmness). It’s focusing on being a blessing to others (definition #3: moral power) – and you surely can’t do that if you are neglecting yourself. Blessings are very powerful – they strengthen both the giver and the receiver.
Strength is LIFTING others up. Weak people try to expose other people’s weaknesses so they APPEAR stronger. Strong people realize other people’s strengths and allow it to inspire them to improve. It’s creating support groups (even if it’s just a workout partner and yourself) for more accountability and strength in numbers (definition #5: strength in numbers) so you can be your absolute best. As you choose your circle of friends, you are choosing your area of influence, whether good or bad. This is why you must choose friends wisely, choosing people who can help strengthen your faith, strengthen your body and support you on your journey (definition #4: power of reason by influence).
Strength is having victory over the fork and power over the mind (definition #2: mental power). It’s practicing inner AND outer strength. Strength starts in your mind, flows out in actions. As Joyce Meyer always says, “where the mind goes, the body follows”.
Do you want to be strong? Truly strong? You CAN be as strong as you decide to try to be. Strength isn’t based on genetics or your personal upbringing. Strength is a DAILY DECISION to do things and think on things that strengthen you.
Here are 12 scriptures and promises that strengthen me when I get weary:
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13- Two are better than one (reminding me of the need for support & fellowship when I’m tempted to go it alone), because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
- For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight (you don’t have to fight battles alone) for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ Deuteronomy 20:4
- God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability (if you are facing it, He knows you can handle it), but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
- But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength (a reminder that strength can be renewed); they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (a reminder that it is still work). Isaiah 40:31
- But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (a reminder that it’s in the weak times that we remember our need for the Lord’s strength, and it’s in OUR weakness he can show himself to you and others).” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
- Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
- And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up (motivation to keep going). Galatians 6:9
- Be strong and courageous (notice it’s a command, meaning you have the option and the ability to do it). Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Ephesians 6:10
- And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good (reminding us that nothing is wasted. He can use all of our struggles and weaknesses for good), for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
- So I do not run aimlessly (a reminder to live with purpose); I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control (and a reminder that God wants us to be disciplined and not let our body boss us around), lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9: 26-27
MOTIVATION FOR WOMEN: Strong Women Lift (each other up)
Yesterday I saw a post from one of our struggling future first-time competitors in our private Bikini Boot Camp group on facebook. She has been totally rocking, her body is leaning out, she looks amazing, but since life happens (and all the junk that comes with it), she got a wave of doubt and began to lose motivation. So she reached out to the rest of the girls for encouragement.
It just so happened I already had created this quote for today’s blog, so I shared it with her (and the rest of the girls) along with this note. After I posted it, I decided I’d share some of it with you in hopes of giving you some encouragement too.
“This goes out to all the girls out there struggling, feeling weak, unmotivated, tired, sore, hungry, grumpy, teary-eyed, frustrated, full of doubt…
You can do this! This isn’t just about getting a hot body. It’s about being YOUR best! It’s about being healthy, taking care of the body God gave you. We all have “weak” friends, family members and people who NEED us to be STRONG for THEM! This isn’t just about you, it’s about who you can be for everyone you love and everyone who loves you. The happier you are, the better mom, wife, friend, co-worker, neighbor you are. If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love anyone else – because you can’t give something away that you don’t have to begin with.
“the hour you spend in the gym, makes you a better you the other 23 hours a day”
At first glance, you may feel your time in the gym is selfish – that it’s selfish to work so hard on “you”. But, TRUST ME. The hour you spend in the gym, makes you a better you the other 23 hours a day. You need this. Your kids need it. They need a strong mommy! Your husband needs a confident woman who feels as sexy as your husband sees you. Your friends need it. People are more likable when they feel good about themselves.
Strength goes beyond the gym – WAY beyond the gym. What you do in the gym creates an outward reflection of the discipline you are learning to apply in your life, to control your flesh and not let the world beat you up so you can be the best you you can be. Showing others you don’t have to give in to the Biggie Size temptations of this Biggie Size world. You CAN’T give up! People depend on you. It’s not just about your success, your success has the potential to impact every single one of your friends who are watching you and thinking “if she can do it, maybe I can too”.
YOU are a walking testimony for everything you believe in. It can be a good testimony or a bad one – that’s up to you.
Personally, I want to be a positive reflection of everything I believe in. I don’t want to teach my friends to give up on fitness, marriage, family, goals, career, God or anything else I truly believe in. There are people who depend on my success to motivate them to just even try. I want to encourage people to keep trying and to never give up – and that starts with ME not giving up. Who you can impact starts with YOU never giving up.
The hard work in the gym and kitchen is nothing compared to the victory you will have KNOWING you GAVE IT YOUR ALL, and that your all impacted people around you to give THEIR all. No one will EVER be able to take that away from you.
Now, let’s take things up a notch and act like the STRONG WOMEN I know each of you are! Let’s DO THIS! Can I hear an AMEN!?!?!?! <3
Let’s commit to lifting each other up, helping people stay encouraged and pressing on toward their goal! Lift Someone Up Today! Share this post if your friends need encouragement on their fitness journey! :)
MORE STRENGTH & ENCOURAGEMENT COMING TOMORROW!
The Secret Between Lean & Ripped
Someone recently asked me how to get ripped. I said, “It depends on where you stop”. Here’s what I mean.
The woman who asked that question was already losing weight and leaning out. Whether she gets thin or gets super fit looking just depends on where she decides to stop. She can continue to lose fat as long as she continues her program. While your desired destination can be different than someone else’s, the process is basically the same. The same fit road has many stops along the way. You can stop at 10lbs lost, 20lbs lost or go until you reach super cut and fit.
The problem is, many people quit when they get comfortable. They think, “wow! I really like 20lbs lost. This is a fun place, I’ll stay here for a while and play”. While they are there, they start allowing for more calories – hence, breaking the weight loss cycle.
Another problem is people fall into a false sense of security. They get thin and begin to feel like they “deserve” the extra calories because they are now so fit and active. Because they aren’t as strict during this phase, they quickly lose a grip on how many calories they are really taking in – and before you know it, they’ve plateaued or even gained some calories back. The knee-jerk reaction is to rely on exercise to erase the extra calories, but they will quickly discover it is much easier to eat 1,000 than it is to burn 1,000 calories. Sadly, many people learn the hard way – after they gain some (or all) of their weight back.
Avoid making these mistakes. Avoid missing out on your biggest victory. Next time you feel like stopping, or settling for the results you’ve gotten so far, ask yourself this question: “What if I keep going?” Amazing things happen! “Better” happens! Even if you are doing great now, you can even do better if you keep pressing on. You can continue to improve. You can continue to get fitter, stronger, leaner, healthier. You can be victorious.
Don’t stop short of your greatest victory. Small victories are awesome, but you have even bigger victories awaiting you if you can just keep pressing on!
Weakness Is Required
I’ve spoken to so many people who apologize for being weak. They say stuff like “I knew I was weak, but I didn’t realize just how out of shape I really was” or “I’m so sorry I am unable to keep up“. Or they say stuff like “I can’t” because they believe they are not supposed to experience such weakness. The truth is “THEY CAN”, but it’s going to be hard. Unfortunately, people often walk away with their head hanging, discouraged at their bodies difficulty to perform the way they had hoped – feeling like a failure, instead of realizing their need for weakness.
PICK YOUR CHIN UP! If you are doing what you are supposed to, you should feel weakness. You HAVE to feel weakness in order to get stronger.
If I bang out 12 overhead presses with ease, I am not getting stronger. I am only demonstrating my EXISTING strength. That’s when I know I need to add weight. When I do 12 reps, but the last 4-5 are really challenging to finish (and maybe the last 1 or 2 seem nearly impossible), THAT’s when I’m changing my body.
This principle applies in many ways. For example, you don’t become a better musician by continuing to play music you have already mastered. You get better by trying more difficult pieces. If you can finish the piece without a mistake, you are not challenging yourself enough. If you are not challenging yourself, you are not improving. You are simply performing. You MUST fail before you succeed. Sadly, no one likes to fail. So, as a result, many people avoid failure (or experiencing any kind of weakness) at all cost – and only do what they are currently good at and currently strong enough to handle.
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan
I don’t like extreme cardio. I do Kickboxing and LiveXFit because I know I need it. Feel free to take a class with me, or follow me online at LiveExercise to see for yourself – I can GUARANTEE you will see me reach failure (and it ain’t pretty!). However, I do it because I know it will make me stronger, better and healthier. I’d prefer to run, but I can already run. I’d prefer to rest more between exercises, but that won’t improve my cardio and conditioning. So I huff and puff my way through each workout, just hoping I can make it through.
Do I enjoy failing? Do I enjoy feeling weak? NO! I hate it, BUT I realize it’s a requirement for getting stronger. If I want to get stronger, I have to experience those weak moments.
So, celebrate your weakness. Celebrate reaching failure as long as you don’t give up! It’s in that weakness you are made stronger. :)
There Are No Short Cuts to Victory
I can’t tell you how many people have told me “I’ve tried that, and it didn’t work for me”. However, I’d bet you a million dollars they didn’t try “that” (doing it completely properly, by the book), every day, 7 days a week, 30 days a month.
Getting results requires complete honestly with yourself, and the people leading you. It is not fair to say that something didn’t work for you if you aren’t willing to do what you are told.
For instance, I could easily say Spanish class didn’t work for me. I took two years of it and I basically only know how to say “no habla espanol”. Why? Was the teacher bad? No. Should I have gotten a newer textbook? No, that wouldn’t help. How do I know? Because half the class learned Spanish just fine. Why? Because they actually did the work.
I expected the same results even though I chose to take short cuts, skip my reading and practicing, skim through homework and not pay attention in class. And, that’s exactly how people treat diet and fitness programs. Then, when they don’t get the result they wanted or expected, they say “it didn’t work”, or blame the teacher.
If you have done your share of diet or gym hopping, and haven’t gotten the results you wanted, it’s time to get honest with yourself. Did you do everything you were told to do? 7 days a week? 30 days in a row? For 2-3 months straight?
Fitness is work, BUT the reward is SO worth it!
Quit searching for more short cuts – or the next new thing. Instead, commit to applying what you have already learned and know – doing it right this time, 7 days a week, 30 days straight. The results will amaze you!
