New Year, New Goals, Same Old Body

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Time to stop procrastinating in front of the tv. Time to dare to take drastic action in order to see the new you in the mirror, but not next year folks. this year right here 2009/2552, will be your best year I swear! It's all about the mindset and here are a few steps that will ensure you make the right decisions and you stick with them.

(This article was published in february issue of Lifestyle & Travel magazine, written by Ryan Meo, one of our most knowledgeable trainers.)

Hope you guys let it sink in and make a move.

r!ck

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"9 wrongs and 9 rights to getting your New Years Body, no matter your age"

Let's get straight to the point. You and a million other people have said the same thing every year, "this year I am going to get in great shape!" Whether you actually verbalized this or not you probably thought about it and if you didn't even do that, you should have!

Let's not tippy toe around life. Aside from a plethora of uncontrollable life factors such as keeping fat weight off, blood pressure, cholesterol, and stress down, starting to exercise will simply add to the quality of your life.

Few people actually reach their New Years Fitness Goals. That new body is often a dream deferred for many before they even start. When it comes down to it, it's not that you don't want it (who doesn't want to look and feel better), it's the manner and process that you go about getting it, and most fail before they even start. The following are 9 reasons and 9 solutions to making sure you and your plan doesn't fail once again.

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1. Big Goals, No Results

Problem: Setting goals is tricky and in the end they're down right deceiving. Don't be fooled goal making is an art. Creating goals that are general "I want to lose weight" or unrealistic, "I want to lose 20lbs in 2 weeks" is setting yourself up failure before you even start.

Solution: Before you do anything, get your pen out, and write down exactly what you want to see happen. The trick though is to be specific and realistic. You can't lose 20 lbs of fat in 4 weeks, it's physically not possible but 10lbs of fat in 4 weeks is achievable. When you reach your goals, which you will, set new ones, and when you reach those, SET MORE! Get realistic, get specific, and write decide what you really want.

Key point: Set measurable short-term goals and get to them!

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2. "I'll Start Tomorrow" Mentality

Problem: I was an "I'll start Monday" guy and after years of the "starting tomorrow mentality" I realized I never actually started. It was a deceptive and physically tolling cycle of commitment phobia. I would pig out Sunday, start Monday, screw up Thursday, and start over again Next Monday, while again pigging out again on Sunday (have to get that last "good" meal in). I actually became fatter doing this, other than just doing my old, normal, lazy self routine.

The "I'll Start Tomorrow" mentality is ineffective, it takes something highly important and tells your brain that it is worth putting off till tomorrow, making it one more unimportant thing on your to do list.

Solution: Start today! If you want results, want change, and want that new body you must start today. Get rid of the crap food in the refrigerator, ban yourself from tasty take out, and get to planning on what you will eat and do next to get you closer to your desired ending.

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3. No Starting Point

Problem: Recognizing physical results can be a challenging task. It isn’t uncommon for someone who has lost a bit of fat weight to barely recognize the change in their body until weeks later when they run into someone they haven’t seen for awhile and that person recognizes it. Physical changes are small over periods of weeks and months, making them difficult to be recognized by the naked eye. Not knowing where you started (amount of fat loss, circumference measurements), will make it incredibly difficult to know if you ever get anywhere.

Solution: Measure you are starting from. Take the time to measure your fat percentage and multiple circumference points on your body. These measurements will do a couple things for you. First they will provide a way to measure if what you are doing is effective, if it is actually helping you lose fat and inches. Second it will keep you motivated. Just because you don’t see change over 3 weeks doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We look at ourselves everyday so it can be challenging to see the change that is actually taking place till we get to the end result.

Key Point: Measure where you are starting so you know the progress you are making.

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4. What’s Your Motivation?

Problem: Staying motivated is certainly easy the first couple weeks but after the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th weeks, the motivation of starting something new wares off. If you believe you will get through this journey of physical change on the will power you started with think again. It is not too different then when buying a new toy you have been wanting. The first weeks it’s difficult to put down but after a little time the novelty wares off. I warn you now that the half way point of getting great results is not as exciting and motivating as it was in the beginning. You must have something to keep you going and pushing to the end.

Solution: We are all motivated a little bit differently so first step is to search out what motivates you. I am motivated visually, I want to look good. To keep myself motivated I keep the awful before pictures I took and keep around pictures of a couple people that I would like to look like. Find out what motivates you and put it everywhere, make sure you are constantly reminded of where you were and where you want to be.

Key Point: Find what motivates you and put it everywhere.

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5. Healthy Food, Right Food

Problem: Nutrition is by far the most confusing part of getting results. It is also what most people put little to no effort into. Ironically, “how” and “what” you put in your mouth makes up 65%-80% of the results you will actually be able to achieve. A large confusion is that just because something is “healthy” that it is “effective”. There are some super healthy foods but if you are trying to lose fat weight they might be more destructive then helpful.

Solution: Decide what your objective is (fat loss, muscle gain, etc.) and start eating the foods that will fit most closely with those end goals, while avoiding foods that will detour you. If fat loss is your goal, avoid foods high in simple sugars. Fruits are incredibly healthy but are loaded with sugar. In the end fruit is healthy but not the most effective food in losing fat weight.

Key Point: Healthy food is not always the most effective food, learn your foods.

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6. The Right Program

Problem: It's commonly believed all exercise is equal. This idea couldn't be further from the truth. If you want to lose fat weight I don't recommend you spend your time running on a treadmill. If you are trying to get faster I don't recommend you start lifting heavy weight. Not all exercise is equal so you must have an exercise and eating program that is inline with your goals.

Solution: Find a program inline with the results you are trying to achieve. If you are trying to lose weight get a exercise program that will be most effective in doing so.

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7. Getting Lost, Keeping Track

Problem: It doesn’t make much sense to know your starting point, final destination, and even the directions then not pay attention to where you are going. If you are not keeping track of your workouts and daily eating habits you will get lost in the middle of your journey. Not keeping track of what you’re doing is assuming that what you are doing is working, which isn’t always the case.

Solution: Keep track of every workout and everything you eat the best you can. There is no one size fits all program so keeping track will allow you to change what is necessary to keep getting results!

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8. Surprise Consumption

Problem: Lot’s of trainers suggest keeping a food journal. This is a novel idea but what good is it to write down the piece of chocolate cake you ate, you can’t take back calories you already ate!

Solution: Write your food down the day before. We are taught to plan ahead in everything else why not what we eat the day before. Planning your food the day ahead forces you to think about where you will be, what you will eat, and what you can eat. No more surprises when you plan ahead, keeping you on track to results.

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9. Don’t Be A Know It All, Find Help!

Problem: Let me burst your bubble, you don’t know everything about getting fit! Know it alls are always the same; they’re the ones that need the most help but never get it because they think they have all the answers, so they end up never changing.

Solution: There is always something new to learn especially when it comes to healthy eating and exercise. You can’t be an expert in everything and time is too precious to try and guess. If you’re going to be serious about getting in shape find a professional to help you. You find professionals for your taxes, for investments, and for other health issues why wouldn’t you do it for keeping your most important possession (your body) healthy and in shape?

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So here it is! I was quite a long read, but aside from the facts included in the article, I hope this read helped you to do one thing :

think positive!

These two words are probably the most important of it all, because let's face it, it's not like it's all hunky dory right now, everbody, everywhere is facing difficulties of some sort, but at the end of the day what makes a difference is your outlook on life, not just exercise or work. You have to think, to position your mind in a way that exudes confidence and positivity.

Sounds simple i know, but nothing beats the bearish markets and job losses better than a high dose of optimism

Have a nice day everybody!